AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -A Dutch court on Wednesday said diesel cars sold by Opel, Peugeot, Citroen and DS in the Netherlands from 2009 contained software designed to cheat emissions tests.
In its intermediary ruling in a class action suit brought by three organisations against Stellantis, which now owns the targeted car companies, the court did not determine whether any compensation should be paid.
Stellantis denied the accusations and said it was considering “appropriate next steps” to defend its interests.
“Stellantis firmly believes that the vehicles comply with all applicable emission regulations and that the court has made incorrect interim considerations in this case,” it said in a statement.
The car brands have been under investigation in Europe, along with several other automakers, in the wake of Volkswagen’s dieselgate emissions scandal.
The Dutch court said it was clear that diesel cars introduced by the four brands since 2014 were equipped with software that manipulated their emission control system, keeping nitrogen oxide emissions artificially low during official tests.
It said this was also the case for Opel diesels introduced since 2009, while it suspected the same for the Peugeot, Citroen and DS diesels of this generation.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer in Amsterdam, additional reporting by Makini Brice in ParisEditing by Mark Potter and Ros Russell)
