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Karlsruhe (dpa) - Diesel owners are likely to have a much harder time demanding compensation from the automaker Daimler because of the emissions affair than in the case of VW - but claims are not excluded.
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) published an initial decision on the so-called thermal window.
The Karlsruhe judges are thus giving the direction for the following proceedings against the Stuttgart group before the highest German civil court (Az. VI ZR 433/19, decision of January 19, 2021).
Thousands of owners of a Mercedes diesel accuse Daimler of using an inadmissible cut-off device because of the thermal window, which reduces exhaust gas cleaning at low outside temperatures.
However, the judges decided that the development and use of such a thermal window alone did not justify any claim for damages for deliberate immoral damage.
This applies even if the technology is actually classified as inadmissible and Daimler wanted to reduce costs and generate profits with it.
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The BGH emphasized that this would only be immoral if there were additional circumstances that made the behavior of the persons involved appear particularly reprehensible.
It must be established that they "acted in the knowledge that they were using an impermissible defeat device and accepted the legal violation contained therein".
The case is also not comparable to that of VW.
Here the BGH saw immoral damage in a basic judgment in May 2020 because the group had built in a function for exhaust gas cleaning that recognizes whether the vehicle is being tested on the test bench.
Such a "fraudulent procedure" was not to be seen at Daimler, it was now said.
However, the issue of diesel lawsuits and possible compensation for Daimler is not settled.
The BGH wants to deal with it in more detail in March.
Negotiations had already been scheduled twice.
Neither came about, however, because the plaintiffs had withdrawn their appeal against a previous judgment at short notice.
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In the case now it was about a complaint against the non-admission of the appeal against a judgment of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Cologne.
The judges used this opportunity to make their position public in advance.
In January 2012, the plaintiff bought a Mercedes C-Class with a diesel engine, for which there is no official recall from the Federal Motor Transport Authority.
Although the Cologne judges had not recognized a claim for compensation and dismissed the lawsuit, they now have to deal with the case again.
From the point of view of the BGH, they had not adequately investigated the plaintiff's allegation that Daimler had provided incorrect information about the functioning of the exhaust gas recirculation in the type approval procedure for the car.
To this end, the OLG will first of all "have to give Daimler the opportunity to reply to this argument".
The car manufacturer still considers a large part of the lawsuits with the assessment from Karlsruhe to have been largely cleared.
"We are assuming that the decision of the BGH will have a guiding character for thousands of court cases in Germany," said a spokesman.
Karlsruhe confirmed the prevailing case law of the regional and higher regional courts in the matter.
"From our point of view and from the point of view of many experts, thermal windows are technically necessary and have nothing to do with an intention to deceive."
One is confident that the Cologne Higher Regional Court will reject the lawsuit again.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210126-99-179176 / 2