# Munich Regional Court I Quantifies Surcharges in the Truck Cartel > Munich Regional Court I estimated specific price surcharges in two truck cartel cases; the judgments are not yet final. Source: https://www.mtrlegal.com/en/munich-regional-court-i-quantifies-surcharges-in-truck-cartel/ · Language: en · Updated: 2026-10-22 --- ## Landgericht München I (Munich Regional Court I) Quantifies Price Surcharges in the Truck Cartel Landgericht München I (Munich Regional Court I) has, for the first time, determined specific cartel-related price surcharges in two proceedings concerning the truck cartel. The decisions concern damages actions brought by two companies from the construction sector that had purchased several trucks between 1997 and 2009. According to the available reports, the defendants are, in corporate-law terms, MAN, which belongs to a German automotive group, and Daimler Truck Holding AG. The starting point of this group of proceedings is the findings of the European Commission regarding anti-competitive coordination by several European truck manufacturers. In 2016, the Commission found that, among others, MAN, Daimler and a Swedish-French commercial vehicle manufacturer had coordinated prices and emissions costs between 1997 and 2011, thereby infringing [Art. 101 AEUV (TFEU, Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A12012E101) as well as Art. 53 EEA Agreement (Agreement on the European Economic Area). The EU fining decisions against MAN, the manufacturer referred to above, Daimler, an Italian commercial vehicle manufacturer, DAF and a Swedish commercial vehicle manufacturer are dated [19 July 2016](https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_16_2582) and 27 September 2017, respectively, and concerned, among other things, the coordination of gross list prices for medium and heavy trucks in the European Economic Area. Fines totalling around EUR 2.93 billion were imposed on the companies concerned. MAN remained free of fines in the EU cartel proceedings as a leniency applicant; any loss established against MAN in the civil proceedings therefore does not arise from a fine imposed on MAN. ## Background to the bundled damages claims ### Assigned claims of numerous purchasers In Germany, a German debt collection and legal services provider asserted bundled damages claims in court. These were based on assignments from originally 3,266 purchasers. In the end, the bundling of claims comprised claims arising from more than 70,000 purchase, leasing and hire-purchase transactions with a total volume of around EUR 500 million. The claims asserted were based on the purchasers’ view that they had paid inflated prices as a result of the anti-competitive coordination. The two proceedings now decided were individual actions within this extensive group of proceedings. ### Bundesgerichtshof on bundling by debt collection service providers By landmark judgment of 12 May 2026, the Bundesgerichtshof (BGH, Federal Court of Justice) held that class-type actions brought by debt collection service providers such as the legal services provider active here may, in principle, be permissible. At the same time, the competent cartel senate clarified that the aggregation of a very large number of individual cases may constitute an abuse of rights if it effectively makes an appropriate judicial review no longer possible. According to the decision of the Bundesgerichtshof, courts may require a split-up in such constellations. Against this background, Landgericht München I had to rule on two individual proceedings from the truck cartel complex. ## Specific damages estimate by the 37th Civil Chamber ### Fixed rates for Daimler and MAN trucks In its final judgments of 21 October 2026, the 37th Civil Chamber of Landgericht München I, which specialises in antitrust law, for the first time specifically quantified the cartel-related price loss. According to the decisions, the court assumed the following surcharges on the net purchase price: - heavy trucks from Daimler: 3.7 percent, - medium trucks from Daimler: 4.2 percent, - heavy trucks from MAN: 5 percent, - medium trucks from MAN: 1 percent. The reimbursement rates set by the court relate to truck purchases from the years 1997 to 2009. By contrast, for a truck purchased as early as 1997, the court was unable to establish any cartel-related price loss. The decisions were issued under case numbers 37 O 6594/17 and 37 O 2959/18. ### Classification in relation to other figures An expert previously relied upon by the claimant side had alleged price surcharges of around ten percent in the Munich proceedings. The rates now applied by Landgericht München I are lower than that. In a parallel complex, the Tribunale di Milano awarded a cartel surcharge of 8 percent of the purchase price at the beginning of 2026. This foreign decision must be distinguished from the Munich judgments and does not replace the specific damages estimate in the present proceedings. ## Expert opinions as the basis of the decision ### Commissioning and investigative approach The damages estimate was based on expert opinions by two competition economists. The 37th Civil Chamber had already instructed the two experts in November 2019. They were tasked with examining, in a large number of proceedings pending before Landgericht München I, whether and to what extent the manufacturers’ cartel arrangements had affected the actual sale prices. The experts worked with statistical regression analyses. This approach was intended to determine the influence of the cartel on the actual sale prices. ### Discussion of the objections to the expert opinions The defendant manufacturers raised numerous objections to the expert opinions and to a later supplementary expert opinion. According to the court, it discussed these objections comprehensively with all parties in several hearings at the end of 2025. For the joint taking of evidence, including the hearing of the experts, Landgericht München I combined 36 proceedings from the “truck cartel” complex into one hearing date in the last week of November 2025. Following a detailed review, the chamber reached the conclusion that the expert opinions formed a reliable and appropriate basis for estimating the losses incurred. ## Judgments not yet final Landgericht München I provided information on the decisions on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, by written notice. The judgments are not yet final and may be challenged by legal remedies. After the pronouncement, Daimler Truck stated that it would first review the written judgments. A final judicial clarification has therefore not currently been reached. Insofar as civil liability in the proceedings specifically decided is concerned, the further procedural status must therefore be taken into account. ## Significance for antitrust damages proceedings The decisions of Landgericht München I are significant for the truck cartel complex because they specify concrete percentages for cartel-related price surcharges in two individual proceedings. At the same time, their probative value remains limited to the facts decided and the purchase transactions examined there. For companies, investors and purchasers of commercial vehicles, issues of antitrust damages may be of considerable economic significance. MTR Legal Rechtsanwälte assists with the legal assessment of such matters in antitrust and competition law; further information can be found under [Legal advice in competition law](https://www.mtrlegal.com/rechtsberatung/wettbewerbsrecht/).