Daimler Sold More Than 1 Million Vehicles With Excessive Emissions In Europe & The US, Stuttgart Search Warrant Read

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

---

The search warrant used by prosecutors in Stuttgart, Germany, two months ago when they searched Daimler facilities in the country (following allegations of false advertising and possible exhaust gas treatment systems fraud in some diesel cars) alleged that the company sold over a million cars in Europe and the US with excessive emissions.

These one million diesel vehicles with excessive emissions that were sold between the years of 2008 and 2016 include a number of Mercedes-Benz models, according to the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, which researched the matter with the broadcasters WDR and NDR.

While it’s been two months since that search took place, the investigation is still ongoing — which is not surprising given the quantity of documents, facilities, and personnel involved.

Reuters provides more: “A spokesman for Stuttgart-based Daimler declined to comment on the continuing investigation by local prosecutors, adding the carmaker was fully cooperating with the authorities.

“The cars in question are powered by engines codenamed OM 642 and OM 651, with prosecutors examining the possible use of defeat devices to manipulate emission levels during tests, the newspaper said.

“There is a risk that the vehicles affected in Europe could be banned in the region, the newspaper said, again citing the search warrant. The Daimler spokesman declined to comment on the report, describing it as ‘speculation,’ apart from saying the company did not see any danger of its cars being banned. A spokesman for Stuttgart prosecutors declined to comment while Germany’s transport ministry couldn’t be reached for comment.”

The Daimler spokesperson’s assertion that the company did not see any danger of its cars being banned is likely accurate, considering the clout that the company has in Germany.

As we reported recently, the German auto lobby, VDA, is working against proposed city-level bans of diesel cars, such as the one that Stuttgart had been looking to implement.