Deutsche Bahn (DB) announced that it has reached an out-of-court settlement with MAN regarding the payment of damages in the truck cartel case, bringing an end to a dispute that lasted nearly ten years. The amount of the settlement has not been made public, but DB says the agreement resolves the dispute with MAN, while the lawsuit against Iveco continues at the Munich Regional Court.
According to the German company, the agreement does not concern only DB. Through the company DB Competition Claims GmbH, Deutsche Bahn has consolidated into a single claim compensation requests not only from within the group, but also from the Bundeswehr (the German military), certain airports, and approximately 40 other companies, which will also benefit from the settlement now reached with MAN.
Iveco remains the last defendant
Following the settlement with MAN, Iveco remains the only manufacturer against whom DB’s lawsuit is still ongoing. Deutsche Bahn states that the remaining claims against Iveco amount to approximately EUR 70 million, and a hearing is scheduled for April 20, 2026 in Munich. With the other manufacturers involved, DB has already reached out-of-court settlements in recent years.
An old case, but still unresolved
The cartel was fined by the European Commission in 2016 and 2017. Brussels found that the manufacturers MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco, and DAF participated for 14 years, between 1997 and 2011, in illegal agreements regarding truck prices and the passing on to customers of costs related to new emissions standards.
In 2017, the Commission also fined Scania separately, thereby concluding its investigation into all six major manufacturers involved. The total amount of the European fines reached approximately EUR 3.8 billion.
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