On 4 October 2021, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”) ruled on several procedural issues in the case between several claimants, including waste-management companies Suez and Veolia and car and machine tools business Wolseley and truck manufacturers that were involved in the truck cartel.[1] The judge ruled that the case would be heard over a maximum of six months, starting 9 April 2024. Furthermore, the judge said that he was not persuaded that it would be appropriate to include second-wave claimants in the trial because of additional complexities because of the need for additional factual investigations for different witnesses and corporate groups.[2]

On 5 October 2021, in another case management hearing in the present case, the judge ordered DAF to disclose market-wide leasing data. The claimants argued that they needed such data in addition to claim-specific leasing data in order to conduct a market-wide analysis. DAF opposed this but did not succeed, given the order of the judge. The CAT further ruled that test claimants had to provide disclosure on a stage by stage basis, starting with board papers and any annexes to those papers; that it should cover the entire period of the claim; and that it should be limited to those claimants at the trial.[3]

[1] Case references 1292/5/7/18 Suez Groupe SAS and Others v Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and Others; 1293/5/7/18 Veolia Environment S.A. and Others v Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and Others; 1294/5/7/18 Wolseley UK Limited and Others v Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and Others.

[2] According to Mlex, ‘UK truck-cartel damages trial to start in April 2024, competition court says’, 4 October 2021.

[3] According to Mlex, ‘Hearing in Uk trucks-cartel suit tackles disclosure and test claimant issues’, 5 October 2021.