7:41 am, September 14, 2022
Mercedes has won a court case against a German eco group which was seeking to ban it from selling vehicles with combustion engines that emit greenhouse gases after 2030.
A Stuttgart court ruled in favour of the carmaker, ruling that it is up to legislators to decide what measures should be taken against climate change.
Judges said that such decisions cannot be pre-empted by an individual suit in a civil court, German news agency dpa reported.
The Deutsche Umwelthilfe group had hoped to have Mercedes-Benz ordered not to sell cars with emissions-causing combustion engines after the end of October 2030.
It also wanted the car giant to refrain from selling new cars with combustion engines before that date that would emit a combined total of more than 516 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Deutsche Umwelthilfe said it plans to appeal to a higher regional court, arguing that politicians’ inaction has forced it to take legal action.
Mercedes-Benz welcomed the ruling.
It said there is ‘no question’ over the protection of the climate being ‘one of the greatest challenges in human history’, and that the company is standing by its responsibility and has long since set course towards climate neutrality.
The judges’ decision is good news for Mercedes, which is also currently facing separate allegations of cheating diesel emissions tests.
The case, brought by Germany’s leading consumer protection group, VZBZ, remains ongoing.
