Last week, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation said it would consolidate at least two dozen class action lawsuits that allege German automakers engaged in a decades-long conspiracy regarding vehicle technology and transferred the litigation to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The JPML rejected proposals to transfer the German auto antitrust class action lawsuits to Florida or New Jersey.

The German automaker antitrust class action lawsuits accuse the German carmakers of engaging in a conspiracy since the 1990s in which they shared sensitive information and reached illegal agreements related to many aspects of the automotive industry, such as costs, technology, markets, suppliers, mechanical components and emissions equipment.

In one of the German automaker antitrust class action lawsuits, plaintiffs Steven Lewis and Travis Burton accuse Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volkswagen of exploiting consumers’ perception that German automakers incorporate technological innovation and top-notch engineering in their vehicles.

However, Lewis and Burton allege, this self-proclaimed “Circle of Five” German automakers conspired together since at least 1996 to share proprietary information and avoid including some of their best ideas in their vehicles. The automakers allegedly began conspiring together because they were falling behind their Japanese competitors and wanted to reverse the trend.

Due to this alleged conspiracy, consumers who trusted the reputation of German automobiles and their promise of cutting-edge technology paid a premium for a product that was not worth the premium price they paid, the German auto antitrust class action lawsuit alleges.

The German automaker antitrust class action lawsuits accuse the automakers of violating the U.S. Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act. The plaintiffs allege the defendants’ alleged conspiracy involves more than 200 employees and 60 working groups. More than 1,000 meetings were allegedly held in furtherance of this conspiracy in the last five years alone, according to the plaintiffs.

The panel notes that consolidation of these German auto antitrust class action lawsuits will eliminate duplicative discovery, prevent inconsistent pretrial rulings and conserve the resources of the parties as well as their attorneys and the judiciary.

According to the JPML’s transfer motion, the California federal court is an appropriate district for the litigation, which may share some facts with the Volkswagen emissions scandal litigation that is also being handled by the same court.

The plaintiffs claim the German automakers agreed to limit the size of tanks that contain AdBlue, an additive that neutralizes nitrogen oxide emissions in diesel exhaust. However, the tank size to which they allegedly agreed was insufficient to meet certain emissions standards, allegedly leading Volkswagen to incorporate technology that was used to cheat emissions testing.

The German auto antitrust class action lawsuits will be handled by U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer, who is currently overseeing the Volkswagen emissions scandal litigation.

The plaintiffs are represented by Carella Byrne Cecchi Olstein Brody & Agnello PC, Pearson Simon & Warshaw LLP and Eggnatz Lopatin & Pascucci LLP, and others.

The German Automaker Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit is In re: German Automotive Manufacturers Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 2796, before the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.

UPDATE: The TCA German Diesel Vehicle Antitrust Investigation is now open.  If you leased or purchased a new German vehicle with a diesel engine between 2006 and 2014, submit your information here!