As you may remember the end of last year was the final deadline, and most of the claims became time-barred with the end of 2022.
Yet, you can still make a claim for compensation!
In order to be able to continue supporting truck owners with their damage claims, our legal team has implemented a way to file all claims against Scania based on a rather new judicature by the German Supreme Court.
Why Scania?
Because this is the only cartel member where the limitation period has not yet expired.
How does it affect buyers of other truck makes?
Based on the nature of the competition procedure, all truck makers are jointly and severally liable, meaning that all claims (DAF, Iveco, MAN, Mercedes, Renault and Volvo) can be filed against Scania.
Why the German courts?
There seems to be no spectacular progress for the public, but it is essential to understand that during the past 5 years, the German courts have worked their way through the truck manufacturers’ objections (which were prepared with extraordinary thoroughness and ingenuity) and rejected each and every one of them not least in three judgements made by the Supreme Court.
This means that the truck manufacturers’ space for manoeuvre has now been significantly narrowed and the only open question is the exact amount of the compensation to be paid.
This puts the German legal process well ahead of what is happening in other countries (the UK for example).
What comes next?
We expect a series of court hearings in Germany this March/April.
If an out-of-court settlement should be triggered around these hearings, that will only include those claims that are filed in court at that moment. We cannot guarantee this will happen, but based on our many decades of experience in competition law, this is a realistically conceivable scenario.
A very sensible reason to act now, without any delay.