Diesel emission claims investigated

The European Union’s antitrust watchdog is investigating whether automakers BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen colluded to limit the development and rollout of car emission control systems.

The EU Commission said yesterday it had received infor- mation that BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen and VW units Audi and Porsche held meetings to discuss clean technologies aimed at limiting car exhaust emissions. The probe focuses on whether the automakers agreed not to compete against each other in developing and introducing technology to restrict pollution from gas and diesel passenger cars.

EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said that “if proven, this collusion may have denied consumers the opportunity to buy less polluting cars”.