Germany escaped fines and defeated the European Union’s regulator after the bloc’s highest court said its redraft of the so-called Volkswagen law doesn’t clash with EU rules.
Germany’s changes to the VW law “complied in full” with a 2007 ruling, the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg said, rejecting a challenge by the European Commission, the bloc’s executive authority.
Daimler received more than 30,000 orders for its flagship Mercedes-Benz S-Class luxury car in less than three months since the model was launched, the company said on Friday.
German opposition parties accused Angela Merkel of pandering to the car lobby, after her political party received major donations from the family that controls BMW, just as Berlin was lobbying against tougher EU caps on carbon emissions.
Renault and PSA/Peugeot-Citroen have reversed their stance and now support delaying a 95 grams per km limit on average CO2 emissions for new cars in the EU, government officials and diplomats said.
Opel will invest €130 million ($175.4 million) in its German engine and parts plant in Kaiserslautern to buy new tooling and machinery, the automaker said in a statement today.
