BMW Denies Colluding With Carmakers on Emissions Equipment
By JACK EWINGJULY 23, 2017
FRANKFURT — BMW, responding on Sunday to claims it formed a cartel with Daimler and Volkswagen to hold down the prices of crucial technology, denied
that the German carmakers had agreed among themselves to install emissions equipment that was inadequate to do the job.
Oliver Krischer, a leading member of the Green Party, told the news agency DPA that the allegations “take the emissions scandal into a new dimension.”
Such harsh criticism of the auto industry is unusual in Germany,
and it illustrates the degree to which public opinion is turning against the carmakers.
Martin Schulz, the chancellor candidate for the left-leaning Social Democrats, said
that if the allegations proved true, “it would be a gigantic fraud against customers,” according to news reports.
The statement by BMW was the first attempt at damage control by the carmakers since the European Commission said on Saturday
that it was investigating accusations of illegal collusion among them.