Mercedes-Benz announced that the US Department of Justice had concluded its diesel emissions scandal investigation after eight years, deeming the car manufacturer free of federal charges.
DOJ Wrapping Up The Mercedes-Benz Diesel Emission Scandal
On Saturday, the Justice Department wrapped up an eight-year investigation regarding Mercedes-Benz diesel emissions without pressing any charges, almost four years after the German automaker had settled allegations of emissions cheating in a one billion five hundred million dollar agreement. Representatives for Mercedes-Benz confirmed to Bloomberg that the DOJ had concluded its probe and had not pressed charges against the company, which commenced in April 2016 following revelations of emissions test manipulation by Volkswagen.
Renata Jungo Bruengger, a board member overseeing integrity, governance, and sustainability at Mercedes, emailed a statement stating that the company had fully cooperated with the DOJ, which dismissed the claims in the lawsuit as unfounded.
In an earlier report in the German newspaper Handelsblatt, Bruengger stated that the DOJ's decision is another significant step towards legal certainty regarding various diesel proceedings.
Probing Mercedes-Benz BlueTEC Manipulation
In 2016, the US Department of Justice mandated Mercedes-Benz to conduct an internal investigation into the potential manipulation of emissions values in its diesel vehicles after it faced accusations about BlueTEC, which was then marketed as the "most advanced and cleanest" diesel in the world.
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The $1.5 Billion Daimler and Mercedes-Benz Settlement
The investigation originated from a class action lawsuit accusing the automaker of violating emissions standards in some of its vehicles, where Daimler and Mercedes-Benz agreed to a one billion five hundred million dollar settlement with regulators to resolve allegations of emissions cheating that purportedly breached the Clean Air Act and California state law in September 2020, which included civil penalties, a nationwide recall, and a repair program, before it secured a federal judge's approval in March of the following year.
The complaints alleged that Daimler produced, imported, and sold over 250,000 diesel vans and cars containing undisclosed auxiliary emission control devices and defeat devices between 2009 and 2016, which purportedly enabled the vehicles to pass emissions tests while emitting higher nitrogen oxide levels during regular operation.
DOJ's Unclear Withdrawal of Charges
While the reason for the Justice Department's decision to end its probe remains unclear, representatives for the department did not respond immediately to requests for comment. The settlement with regulators followed separate civil complaints from the California Air Resources Board and the US, asserting that the defeat devices utilized by Daimler, which, according to the EPA, is any mechanism that bypasses, defeats, or renders inoperative a required element of the vehicle's emission control system, caused vehicles to emit compliant emissions during testing but higher nitrogen oxide emissions during regular operation.
Meanwhile, the legal dispute between consumer advocates and Mercedes-Benz continues in Germany, with affected customers achieving some success before the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court.
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