BMW, Daimler and VW have joined forces to prevent better emissions control technology, the EU says

On Friday, the Commission of the European Union accused BMW, Daimler and the Volkswagen group (which manufactures VW, Audi and Porsche vehicles) of collusion to limit the emission reduction technology of their diesel and gas vehicles.

The Commission has accused the three manufacturers of coordinating themselves to limit the size and filling capacity of AdBlue tanks on their diesel vehicles built between 2006 and 2014. AdBlue is a urea-based liquid that is injected in the exhaust gases to reduce the amount of nitrogen oxides (NO_X) released during the combustion of the diesel.

The commission also accused the three manufacturers of agreeing to avoid or delay the introduction of "Otto" particle filters on gasoline vehicles between 2009 and 2014.

Concerns about collusion

After opening an investigation last September, the European Commission today sent a statement of objections to the three German car manufacturers, namely an official letter setting out the preliminary opinion that the manufacturer's behavior was illegal.

"Such market behavior, if confirmed … would violate EU competition rules prohibiting agreements to limit or control production, markets or technical development", reads in a press release from the European Commission.

The potentially illegal activity is not related to the Volkswagen Group's diesel scandal that erupted in 2015. In that debacle, the automaker illegally told governments that its diesel vehicles were better at reducing emissions harmful than the vehicles actually. This time, the European Commission does not accuse BMW, Daimler or the VW group of violating environmental laws (although their alleged actions likely had significant environmental impacts). Instead, the commission accuses automakers of violating competition laws between different companies.

BMW, Daimler and the VW Group have the opportunity to respond in writing to the statements of the European Commission and to request an oral hearing. If "the Commission finds that there is sufficient evidence of an offense, it may adopt a decision prohibiting behavior and imposing a fine of up to 10% of the annual global business figure." of a company, "wrote the European Commission.

According to Reuters, Daimler was an alert launcher, informing the commission of the existence of collusion. The newspaper reported Friday that Daimler felt he was not fined for wrongdoing because of his role as an alerting launcher.

The accusations of the European Commission relate to NO_X emissions in diesel vehicles and particulate emissions in gas vehicles, but automakers will likely have to struggle to meet CO standards₂ emission standards by 2021 as well. The blurred mean CO₂ The limit for EU vehicles will decrease by 40 grams of CO₂ per kilometer in just two years. According to one analysis tweeted by Analysis of the automotive industry, nearly a dozen car manufacturers selling vehicles in Europe would be subject to heavy fines₂ restrictions in place today.