Daimler told to clarify extent of ‘dieselgate’

BERLIN: The German government on Monday gave car giant Daimler two weeks to clarify the extent of possible emissions manipulations in the company’s vehicles.

The company should investigate the exact number of vehicles affected by the suspected emissionscheating technology, Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer said on Monday after a meeting with Daimler’s head, Dieter Zetsche, in his ministry in Berlin.

“At another meeting in 14 days, the concrete results will be on the table,” Scheuer added.

Last week, Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) found that Daimler – the parent company of Mercedes-Benz – used emissionscheating technology that allowed Vito vans to turn off or turn down emission controls when the car was not being tested, enabling the vehicle to evade environmental requirements.

The authority ordered on Thursday a recall of the Mercedes-Benz diesel Vito van, which is expected to affect 4,900 vehicles with 1.6-litre engines worldwide, of which 1,370 are in Germany.

On Friday it emerged that more than 100,000 further vehicles could be sucked into the scandal.

Sunday’s edition of Germany’s Bild tabloid reported that up to 120,000 of Daimler’s diesel vehicles could be affected worldwide.

Daimler rejected the accusations and said on Thursday it would go to court over the charges, but that it is cooperating with the KBA in investigations. The company argues that the technology at the heart of the dispute is highly complex. – dpa