Bosch-Dyson vacuum wars: European Court of Justice dismisses Dyson’s action over energy label regulations
Are Europe’s vacuum wars over before they really got started?
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has dismissed legal action from Dyson hoping to change European energy label regulations. The ruling comes shortly after the British vacuum maker lashed out at rival Bosch, claiming it had cheated “like VW” in energy efficiency tests.
Dyson had applied for judicial review of what the company called misleading aspects of European energy label regulations, in part of its campaign against Bosch’s “AAAA” rating.
In its ruling today, the ECJ dismissed Dyson’s claims, stating that current energy label tests do “not infringe the principle of equal treatment”:
The British company has failed to demonstrate that there were more reliable, accurate and reproducible tests than the one endorsed by the Commission.
Dyson is planning to continue to fight for changed testing, according to a company spokesperson who said to City PM that the ruling was "deplorable":
"The ECJ has given its support to unrepresentative tests devised by the commission with a small group of European manufacturers which in our view disregards the interests of consumers in Europe. Dyson was the only manufacturer to support a cap on motor wattage, which would be the most effective way of reducing energy consumption and promoting greater efficiency.
"The judgment is all the more surprising in view of the revelations about car testing in the VW scandal where the tests do not reflect real life usage. We don’t believe the ECJ is acting in the interests of consumers."
Last month, Dyson accused its competitor of cheating energy efficiency tests by installing a sensor in their vacuum cleaners which enabled them to achieve a top rating under laboratory conditions – but which caused their energy use to double when used in the home.
“Bosch has installed control electronics into some of its machines to wrongfully increase energy consumption when in use – to cheat the EU energy label,” Sir James Dyson said at the time.
"Their behaviour is akin to that seen in the Volkswagen scandal."