Request for a preliminary ruling from the Landgericht Frankenthal (Germany) lodged on 17 September 2019 — OK v Daimler AG
(Case C-685/19)
Language of the case: German
Referring court
Landgericht Frankenthal
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicant: OK
Defendant: Daimler AG
Questions referred
Is Article 5(2), sentence 2, letter (a) of Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2007 on type approval of motor vehicles with respect to emissions from light passenger and commercial vehicles (Euro 5 and Euro 6) and on access to vehicle repair and maintenance information 1 to be interpreted and applied as meaning that a need for the use of defeat devices within the meaning of that provision is only to be found if, even using the state-of-the-art technology available when type approval was obtained for the vehicle model in question, the protection of the engine against damage or accident and the safe operation of the vehicle could not be guaranteed?
Question 2, in the event that question 1 is answered in the affirmative:
Are deviations from the general obligation to use the state-of-the-art technology available at the time of the type approval admissible for other reasons, such as a lack of long-term experience or disproportionately high costs of the state-of-the-art technology in relation to other technologies with considerable effects on the retail price?
Question 2, in the event that question 1 is answered in the negative:
Even with the use of technological components which are in principle admissible, does a prohibited defeat device exist in the form of the so-called ‘thermal window’, if the parameters set in this regard in the engine control unit are chosen such that the exhaust gas purification is not activated or only activated to a limited extent
(a) because of the chosen temperatures, taking into account the temperatures usually to be expected for a large part of the year
(b) because of other parameters — such as the current altitude of the vehicle above sea level — in relevant regions of Germany or the European internal market.
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1 OJ 2007 L 171, p. 1.