Mercedes customers achieved a partial success on Thursday when the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court established that unauthorized defeat devices were installed in certain diesel vehicles from the German car manufacturer. The finding appeared in a so-called model declaratory judgement announced by the presiding judge, Thilo Rebmann, in the south-western German city, where Mercedes is headquartered. This means that the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) has partially prevailed with a lawsuit that it filed against Mercedes-Benz in the wake of the diesel scandal. The consumer protec…