James Dyson didn’t hold back last week when it came to comments on vacuum rival Bosch. The inventor stated that a Volkswagen-like scandal was happening in the vacuum industry, and Bosch was at the center of it.
The Dyson founder alleged that Bosch installed controlled electronics to wrongfully increase energy consumption when tested. The controls were able to sense when the vacuum was being tested, and change results accordingly, similar to Volkswagen’s emissions scandal.
Bosch quickly denied any wrongdoing and is now filing a lawsuit against Dyson (the company). The lawsuit will look into the allegations made by James Dyson — if no vacuum tampering is found, the founder may be accused of libel. It may also have an adverse effect on vacuum sales, depending on which company loses the lawsuits.
BSH Hausgeräte filed the lawsuit, the parent company of Bosch and Siemens home appliances. The company claimed this wasn’t the first time James Dyson had taken an aggressive approach to knock down competitors, but the comment on cheating apparently forced Bosch to take legal action. The price for the comment could be millions, especially if Bosch can link lower sales to Dyson’s comment.
Dyson and Bosch have fought in the courtroom before. In Aug 2014, Dyson was caught advertising incorrect energy labels, spotted by Bosch, and forced to change the inaccurate labels.
James Dyson has issues with the way the European Union tests vacuum cleaners and has suggested they be tested with dust in them, so they’re more similar to real-world conditions. He also says a lot more factors, like energy consumption and landfill space taken up by vacuum cleaner bags and filters, should get included in the energy rating.
It might not look like good business, but the raw competitiveness of James Dyson in the vacuum industry might be pushing more innovation into the market. In most of Bosch’s statement on the lawsuit, it taunted Dyson by claiming its new vacuums were much more energy efficient and powerful.
