Sección 32 of the Audiencia Provincial de Madrid has ordered 31 individual lawsuits against the car cartel to proceed, giving buyers who never joined a group case another chance to pursue their claims. The cases had been put on hold because the buyers’ cars were listed in a collective lawsuit.
In Auto 43/2026, dated 17 September, the court rejects the idea that being named in a group action’s annex is enough to block a personal lawsuit. The buyers seek to recover a 10.05% surcharge on the price they paid for their cars, amounting to €97,105.19. Their cases were dismissed by the Juzgado de lo Mercantil nº 19 because their vehicles were among 442,258 listed in a collective action at another court. But the buyers never agreed to join that group or received notice that they were parties.
In a related 2026 case, Helle Auto sought €7.5 million in compensation for 4,387 vehicles purchased between 2006 and 2013, alleging a cartel overcharge of 10.11%.
The legal roadblock was based on litispendencia, a rule that stops duplicate lawsuits when the same parties and issues are involved. Sección 32 has ruled that appearing in a group action’s paperwork does not make someone a party to the case or bind them to its outcome. The court based its decision on Supreme Court rulings and referred to Directive (EU) 2020/1828, which says only people who choose to join a group case are bound by its outcome. Spain has not yet put the directive into law.
Renault España Comercial, S.A., the defendant, now faces the reopened lawsuits and must pay the appeal costs. The ruling is final, with no further appeal. The court did not decide whether the cartel overcharge occurred; it ruled only that buyers have the right to bring their own claims.
El Confidencial reports that defendants in recent Spanish car cartel litigation include major automakers Stellantis, Ford, Toyota, Renault, Fiat, Kia, Seat and Hyundai, all previously sanctioned by the CNMC. The ongoing wave of antitrust cases has prompted Spanish courts to clarify the limits of joint liability and the procedural rules for cartel damages claims.
For these 31 buyers, each claim could be worth just over €3,100, plus interest. The court’s decision also ends the routine practice of rejecting individual claims solely because a buyer’s car was listed in a group case. Buyers who have not actually joined a collective lawsuit can still bring an individual claim.
The ruling also highlights a gap in the law. Spain has not yet fully adopted Directive (EU) 2020/1828, which would set clear rules for group lawsuits and ensure that only those who opt in are bound by the outcome. Until lawmakers act, courts must decide where the line falls between group and individual actions, leaving legal certainty unsettled.
The decision sets a new rule for cartel cases across Spain: courts must check, case by case, whether buyers agreed to join a group action before blocking their individual lawsuits. For claimants and their lawyers, appearing in paperwork does not close the door to an individual case. The ruling gives buyers more control and warns car companies that procedure cannot be relied on to block such claims. Spanish courts are putting individual rights ahead of administrative shortcuts, a position that could shape consumer lawsuits until the law changes.
