Daimler settles over emissions cheating
Daimler, the parent company of MercedesBenz, has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle government accusations that it equipped 250,000 diesel cars and vans sold in the United States with devices that cheated emissions tests and spewed pollutants into the air, California and U.S. Justice Department officials announced Monday.
About $300 million of the settlement will go to California, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra said.
The German automaker has also announced a separate $700 million settlement of a classaction suit by purchasers of the vehicles, from model years 2009 through 2016. Daimler halted U.S. sales of dieselpowered cars in 2016.
The settlements are similar to the Volkswagen emissions scandal in 2015 that led to a $14.7 billion settlement with vehicle owners and the U.S. government and the imprisonment of several VW executives.
“Cheating isn’t the smartest way to market your product,” Becerra said in a statement. “Daimler is finding that out today. But they’re not the first — nor likely the last — to try.”
Of the 250,000 vehicles, 39,646 were sold in California, Becerra’s office said. The office said the state’s $300 million share includes $17.5 million for environmental monitoring and enforcement, and for environmental projects in California.
Daimler, like Volkswagen, was accused of rigging diesel emissions systems to artificially lower release of nitrous oxides during testing. The pollutants are a major cause of smog and also contribute to global warming.
The $1.5 billion settlement includes the costs of repairing the vehicles, funding government projects to reduce nitrous oxide pollution, and civil penalties to the government, Becerra’s office said. The separate $700 million settlement will compensate vehicle owners for their losses.
The Trump administration announced the settlement while fighting separately to lower U.S. fueleconomy standards, an action that would increase emissions of climatechanging greenhouse gases. California has sued the administration for revoking a longstanding waiver that allowed the state to set stricter fueleconomy standards.
Daimler’s actions first came to light last year, when German auto regulators reached a $960 million settlement with the company for testcheating devices on more than 680,000 Mercedes diesel vehicles sold worldwide.
Daimler said Monday it “denies the authorities’ allegations and the class action plaintiffs’ claims and does not admit any liability” but “avoids lengthy court actions with respective legal and financial risks” by agreeing to the settlement.
“Since 2016, Daimler has significantly enhanced technical compliance and its innovative compliance management system provides a blueprint for automotive industry,” the company said.