Local Mercedes-Benz executives will face another grilling in court this week, after it emerged on Friday the German parent company was involved in the roll-out of the direct-to-consumer sales model and lawyers for Australian dealers question whether the local bosses deliberately misled franchisees regarding a potential profit hit.

Mercedes-Benz is embroiled in a legal battle with 38 Australian dealerships who are suing the company for $650 million, claiming they were bullied into signing new agreements that stripped them of the valuable “goodwill” they had spent millions of dollars establishing over the years.