MOTORING giants face a £90billion bill after ripping off truck buyers in a price-fixing scam — including up to 35,000 British companies.
Volkswagen, already facing payouts over its emissions scandal, is among the firms in the line of fire.
Some 10million trucks were sold across Europe between 1997 and 2011 — overpriced by as much as £9,030 each.
In July, the European Commission found MAN, part of the VW group, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco and DAF broke rules banning cartels.The body found they had worked together to fix truck prices, passing on to their customers the costs of compliance with stricter EU emission rules.
The Commission hit the firms collectively with a £2.52billion fine — although MAN, as the whistle-blower, escaped any financial hit.
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Yesterday a legal case against the truck makers was begun by investigators Bentham Europe.
All admitted involvement in the cartel, except Scania which remains under investigation.
Jeremy Marshall, of Bentham, said: “From 1997 to 2011 some of the largest truck manufacturers in Europe acted as a cartel to cheat customers.”
Separately, it emerged yesterday that Audi petrol cars made by Volkswagen are under investigation over emissions.
They were found to perform differently in test conditions, apparently shifting gears in a way that gave out fewer emissions than when on the road.
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