The United Kingdom High Court has dismissed most of the key allegations against five major automakers in the long-running dieselgate case, more than a decade after the Volkswagen emissions scandal.

The lawsuit focused on whether 20 sample vehicles produced by Mercedes, Ford, Peugeot, Citroën, Renault and Nissan were fitted with so-called defeat devices that lowered emissions during laboratory testing while allowing significantly higher levels of harmful pollutants during normal driving.

The court ruled that, in most cases, the emissions control strategies used by the carmakers did not amount to prohibited defeat devices.

The judgment states, “For a defeat device to be found, there needs to be an intention to cause the emissions control system to operate differently when it senses it is being tested.”

It adds, “It was not enough for the claimants simply to establish that the challenged strategies reduced the effectiveness of emissions-control systems outside the relevant testing conditions.”

The manufacturers denied any liability, maintaining that their vehicles’ emissions-control systems complied with applicable regulations.

The lawsuit is the largest group claim trial in the history of England and Wales, representing about 1.6 million UK vehicle owners.

Volkswagen had previously admitted to using illegal emissions-cheating software in the UK and reached a settlement with claimants.