(Bloomberg) -- Mercedes-Benz Group AG is liable to owners of some of its diesel cars that were equipped with a diesel defeat emissions device, a German court ruled in a consumer class action case.

The ruling by the Stuttgart Appeals Court published Thursday covers Mercedes GLC and GLK models in a suit brought by consumer group VZBV three years ago joined by 2,500 claimants. The consumer group alleges the car manufacturer manipulated diesel engines to cheat on emission rules.

The drivers don’t get payouts directly but must now sue individually to collect money from the manufacturer. Mercedes said it will appeal the judgment. The company and its employees acted properly at the time, it said. 

The European Union has issued emission standards to which cars must comply. The older standard, called Euro 5, and was introduced in 2009. The newer Euro 6 standard applies to cars made since in 2014.

The judges granted the suit for models that carried the Euro 6 emission standards but dismissed the case covering the vehicles under the Euro 5 standard.

The suit copies VZBV’s case against Volkswagen AG over the diesel emission scandal which ended with an €830 million euro ($895 million) settlement in 2020.

The case is: OLG Stuttgart: 24 MK 1/21.

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