Daimler to Modify 3 Million Cars Over Diesel Concerns
Daimler, the German automaker, said on July 18 that it would update three million Mercedes cars in Europe to reduce their diesel emissions, an apparent effort to combat a widening inquiry and a public backlash over allegations that it evaded rules controlling vehicle pollutants.
The move, which Daimler declined to term a "recall," is being made as the company faces investigations on both sides of the Atlantic over diesel deception accusations.
Daimler has been under increasing pressure in Germany since media reports last week suggesting the scale of the emissions problem was greater than previously known. While the company denies doing anything illegal, last week its managers were summoned to Berlin for talks with officials about emissions.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany is under pressure amid criticism that her government has long coddled carmakers and ignored signs that nearly all diesel vehicles in Europe emit more harmful nitrogen oxides in normal use than regulations allow.
The measures would be rolled out in the coming weeks and would cost about 220 million euros, or $252 million. By volunteering to upgrade the cars’ emission systems, Daimler appears to be trying to avoid the fate of Volkswagen. The carmaker, based in Wolfsburg, Germany, paid more than $22 billion in civil and criminal penalties and legal settlements in the United States after admitting to manipulating diesel emissions controls. The financial penalties for Volkswagen were much worse than they might have been because it staged an elaborate cover-up after regulators began asking questions in early 2014.
A software update, which Daimler said would take about an hour, will cause the emissions controls to operate under a broader set of conditions. Previously, the pollution equipment was programmed to operate at maximum effectiveness only under a narrow range of temperatures. That range will be expanded.
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