Ford, Other Car Manufacturers, On Trial For Cheating Emissions Tests

Reuters’ Sam Tobin reports on a major emissions cheating lawsuit involving Ford and four other auto manufacturers that has opened in London’s High Court nearly a decade after “dieselgate” reshaped global automotive compliance.

The so-called Pan-NOx Group Litigation is said to be one of the largest mass lawsuits in English legal history, valued at up to £6 billion. Litigants include about 1.6 million claimants. The expected three-month trial will determine whether the five lead defendants—Ford, Mercedes, Peugeot/Citroën, Renault, and Nissan—used prohibited “defeat devices” to manipulate emissions test results.

A separate hearing on compensation is scheduled for next year.

The case stems from allegations that the automakers installed software to reduce emissions during official testing, but allowed vehicles to exceed legal limits in real-world driving.

Twenty sample diesel models from 2012–2017 are under review to establish whether their emission systems violated contract and statutory obligations. The High Court will decide if those vehicles had prohibited “defeat devices.”

Volkswagen previously settled a related UK action in 2022. The current defendants have denied all wrongdoing, asserting that their systems were technically and legally compliant.

The court curtailed the claimants’ litigation budget to £22 million, a significant reduction from prior cost estimates deemed excessive. Representation across 22 defendant groups includes top-tier firms such as Freshfields, Kennedys, and Cleary Gottlieb.

The case presents a pivotal test of the limits of environmental and consumer law in mass-tort contexts. The court’s eventual findings could shape future emissions litigation strategy on both the plaintiff and defendant sides. It will clarify the legal definition of defeat devices and influence how corporate accountability for environmental compliance is evaluated under UK law.