BMW Headquarters Raided Over Emissions 'Collusion' With Rivals

BMW’s headquarters in Munich have been ‘raided’ by police and officials from the European Commission’s antitrust department, according to reports, as part of accusations of collusion with rival German brands.

The raid is said to have taken place on October 16; last Monday. BMW, with a clear hint of resentment, confirmed it was “assisting the European Commission with its work” but that no formal proceedings had been opened against the firm.

Months ago the German newspaper Der Spiegel accused BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen, Porsche and Audi of agreeing to fit smaller, less expensive AdBlue urea solution tanks that can allegedly fail to clean exhaust emissions to the legal standard. BMW denies the claims – as do all the other companies involved.

BMW says its cars use a special kind of catalytic converter that stores NOx emissions temporarily, allowing the system to clean the exhaust smoke using less AdBlue. The sizes of the tanks, the company says, is proportional to the actual consumption of the solution.

Der Spiegel’s claims say collusion on various matters between German car-makers has been happening since the 1990s and involved over 200 employees in 60 working groups, according to Auto Express.