BMW Denies Colluding With Carmakers on Emissions Equipment<br />By JACK EWINGJULY 23, 2017<br />FRANKFURT — BMW, responding on Sunday to claims it formed a cartel with Daimler and Volkswagen to hold down the prices of crucial technology, denied<br />that the German carmakers had agreed among themselves to install emissions equipment that was inadequate to do the job.<br />Oliver Krischer, a leading member of the Green Party, told the news agency DPA that the allegations “take the emissions scandal into a new dimension.”<br />Such harsh criticism of the auto industry is unusual in Germany,<br />and it illustrates the degree to which public opinion is turning against the carmakers.<br />Martin Schulz, the chancellor candidate for the left-leaning Social Democrats, said<br />that if the allegations proved true, “it would be a gigantic fraud against customers,” according to news reports.<br />The statement by BMW was the first attempt at damage control by the carmakers since the European Commission said on Saturday<br />that it was investigating accusations of illegal collusion among them.
