The Regional Court of Munich is opening on 24 November 2025 what is expected to be the largest civil hearing on damages linked to the truck cartel, which stems from the European Commission’s 2016 decision against almost all European manufacturers over a price-fixing agreement in place from 1997 to 2011. Around 130 lawyers and experts will face each other over a week inside a congress hall set up specifically to handle the scale of the proceedings. Claims amounting to billions of euros are being brought against, among others, Daimler, Volvo, Man of the Traton group, Iveco and Daf of the Paccar group.
The start of the hearings in Munich marks the most advanced stage among the many actions launched across Europe after the Commission’s decision, which led to fines totalling €3.8 billion, following Man’s cooperation as whistleblower and consequent exemption from payment. This exemption, however, does not shield the German manufacturer from civil actions brought by vehicle purchasers. In the years that followed, claims were filed in around twenty European countries and in Israel, with roughly 500 proceedings launched in Germany alone. Munich has therefore become the main venue for most of these disputes.
One of the most active claimant groups is Financialright Claims, which has purchased and aggregated the claims of vehicle owners. The first action dates back to 2017 and involved 85,000 trucks with estimated damages exceeding €800 million, later joined by new claims that brought the total to roughly €2 billion. Litigation over the legitimacy of this aggregated model has slowed the procedure, even though the German Federal Court has confirmed its validity while leaving room for further challenges.
Alongside specialist litigation operators, major purchasing groups such as Deutsche Bahn, Dhl and several logistics companies are also involved, arguing that the manufacturers applied a systematic surcharge to the list prices of medium and heavy-duty vehicles. The central issue is determining the actual price increase attributable to the agreement: the court has appointed two economists from the Ifo Institute to reconstruct the hypothetical prices that would have formed in a competitive market. The calculation relies on complex counterfactual models and represents the decisive element for assessing individual claims.
According to initial estimates, around ten million trucks were sold during the cartel period, and claims linked to a potential four million vehicles could imply a loss of €2.8 billion for each percentage point of surcharge. Courts in the United Kingdom, Spain and in German jurisdictions such as Berlin and Stuttgart have already recognised a price increase of around 5 per cent, while Financialright experts estimate figures exceeding 10 per cent. Manufacturers, by contrast, aim to minimise this percentage and will present their own technical analyses during the Munich hearings.
The various manufacturers involved continue to maintain discretion regarding their actual exposure. Daimler, although not indicating specific provisions for the case, has reported total legal risks of €1.6 billion in its accounts, specifying that the truck cartel cases are the only ones expressly mentioned in its financial statements. Traton, which controls Man and Scania, has not set aside funds for most of the proceedings, though it has indicated potential legal losses of €162 million and raised its overall adjustments to €512 million in 2024. Volvo, which claims not to have changed its pricing in response to the agreement, has earmarked SEK 6.6 billion for cases with an estimable outcome and a further SEK 4.9 billion for potential liabilities that are difficult to assess.
Iveco has reported a cost item of €32 million related to legal proceedings where a forecast could be made, with no additional provisions. Deloitte’s audit has flagged this decision as one of the significant matters discussed with management. Paccar, by contrast, reported a charge of $600 million in 2023 following the first settlement agreements reached by its Daf subsidiary.
New claims continue to emerge alongside ongoing cases. An action launched in 2024 by the German haulage association Bgl involves Scania for 15,000 vehicles and claims amounting to €86 million. Scania’s position is distinctive because its appeal against the EU sanction was concluded only in 2023, reopening the timeframe for new legal actions under the applicable limitation rules.
With a week of hearings and a close confrontation between party-appointed experts and court-nominated consultants, the Munich court will have to establish a reference framework that could shape the entire dispute at national level. Industry operators and major manufacturers will therefore follow the outcome closely, as it is considered decisive for the calculation of refunds in Germany and, in all likelihood, in other European proceedings still in progress.
