Counter attacker poster cars. Car brands can now add items to their balance sheets to compensate those who bought their cars. Between 2006 and 2013. It is time for reckoning, and the car cartel will face court with more cases than any prior period. A collective claim has affected 13,000 people, a figure never seen before in Spain. The case draws law firms, consumer associations such as Facua or OCU, and well-established litigation platforms ready to pursue guaranteed claims.
Systema Capital, which led the first third-party litigation financing operation to confront lucrative legal battles, including the trucking cartel in 2019, fronts a bold financing initiative. The family office Systema Capital aims to build the largest car cartel-related claims platform in Spain, with 15 million euros in funds for legal defense and the capacity to defend around 100,000 affected people in joint claims.
A legal platform named A&P, trading under the name recoveryourmoney.com, marks another advance in fights against the car cartel. It targets companies with fleets of vehicles and vans. Recovertudinero.com currently lists 30,000 registered users, signaling substantial resources to back all claims with professional reports aligned to the CNMC Damages Measurement Guide. With solid equity, the firm claims independence and the capacity to be the first LegalTech platform for its segment, handling claims from the auto cartel.
Vehicle Fleets
From now through 2026, fleets of vehicles and vans, rental firms, taxi associations, commercial agents, business associations, and solo professionals across sectors requiring fleets for operations can also claim against the brands with significant revenue expectations. A&P aims to represent about 100,000 vehicles across Spain, offering 100% financing of litigation costs so clients neither advance capital nor face costs if the claim falters. The landscape for brands over the next two years remains complex.
Iván Comerma, partner at Systema Capital, explains that the expert report framework will be built from data provided by those who join the platform. The strength of any claim hinges on this report: the larger the sample analyzed, the stronger the result and the better the chances that the judge will accept the claimed amount rather than settle for symbolic figures, which has often occurred when expert reports lack solidity. Asked about potential claim amounts, Comerma notes that valuations are not final. Still, a clear pattern of overpricing by brands beyond self-imposed limits is emerging. He suggests an average overprice of about 8–10%, to which interests from the date of damage would add roughly another 50% on top of that 8–10%.
€300 Million at Stake
The total size of the car cartel case is expected to hover around €300 million across several Spanish courts, underscoring the keen interest of lawyers and platforms to channel claims and seize this procedural business opportunity. Comerma notes that, so far, no single brand has shown a different overpricing strategy compared to cartel peers in a recurring way, which supports the overall picture of coordinated pricing.
The Car Cartel
On July 23, 2015, Spain’s National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) fined 21 automotive companies and two consulting firms a total of €171 million for anticompetitive practices, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in 2021. CNMC’s investigation found that brands exchanged confidential information, coordinated dealer discount margins, and avoided aggressive bidding.
Most collective platforms that pool claimants for cartel-related disputes charge some form of fee, ranging from upfront payments to cover expert costs to a commission on recovered sums. In the case of recoverardinero.com, used by the A&P platform to drive claims, clients face no capital risk and the process is accelerated by digital data and document transmission. It is notable that for claims over €2,000, the payout windows can extend beyond 18 months or two years.
The Platform
The A&P claim platform is built by Systema Capital’s specialized litigation finance team, the competition law team led by Allura & Peimondt, which also forms the LegalTech side under the A&P banner, a tech team in LegalTech led by Oklaim (part of the Highpow group focused on mass-case software), an expert cartel team in Spain led by PQAxis, and a digital operations audit team guided by Minsait (Indra Group). The A&P platform (operating as recuperatudinero.com) unites a legal team that aims to lower barriers to pursuing damages claims with a streamlined, data-sharing system that minimizes operational disruption for client companies.
Quantifying the Damage
The goal of carmaker lawsuits is not to prove guilt anew, since that is settled by the CNMC fine and the Supreme Court ruling. Instead, the aim is to quantify the damage. A pristine expert report can be decisive for the ruling. A collective claim based on fleet data provides economies of scale, enabling better data assessment and impact, with earlier studies indicating a potential 20% overprice. The collective process and fleet data help ensure robust, defensible figures for the court.