Big car manufacturers win this round
A number of medium-sized and smaller hauliers have lost out to well-known car manufacturers in a lawsuit before a court in Stuttgart. Following the European Commission's ruling of 19 July 2016 (AT.39824 - Trucks) against various manufacturers of commercial vehicles, including Daimler, for acting in breach of antitrust law and the imposition of a fine in the billions of euros, the Europäische Ladungs-Verbund Internationaler Spediteure Aktiengesellschaft (Elvis) founded Themis Schaden as a wholly-owned subsidiary in October 2016.
On the basis of the assigned right, Themis Schaden demanded, on behalf of around 350 companies, the payment of cartel damages of approximately EUR 96 million plus interest and a declaration that the defendant was liable to pay compensation for further cartel damages.
The Daimler, DAF, Fiat/Iveco, MAN, Scania and Volvo/Renault vehicles in question were acquired by the companies in different ways (purchase, hire purchase, service leasing, finance leasing, etc.) and in different amounts (from one to around 1,600 vehicles per company).
More than four years after the lawsuit was filed in December 2017, the Regional Court of Stuttgart has now dismissed Themis' claim against Mercedes-Benz Group (formerly: Daimler) (Case No. 30 O 17/18).
As the main reason for the dismissal of the action, the Regional Court cites that Themis Schaden had no legal standing to make a claim, since, although registered as a debt collection agency, it had not, in the opinion of the court, carried out any debt collection activities that it was permitted to do, but rather provided legal advice. (cd)
https://landgericht-stuttgart.justiz-bw.de