Mercedes Benz has in Diesel scandal According to its own statement, the remaining legal disputes in the USA have been settled. The company said it has reached an agreement with attorneys general in several states. According to the New York public prosecutor’s office, the settlement is worth $149.6 million (around €127.2 million). Of this, Mercedes must immediately pay $120 million (around 102 million euros) to the affected states. The payment of a further 29.6 million dollars (around 25.2 million euros) is initially suspended.
The payment would settle environmental and consumer protection claims in connection with diesel vehicles from model years 2009 to 2016, the company said.
However, the settlements would still have to be approved by the responsible courts. According to Mercedes’ own assessment, the step would avoid costly disputes in court. The company has cooperated fully with the public prosecutor’s office, but continues to reject the allegations and does not accept any liability.
Daimler has been in the sights of the judiciary since 2016
The Mercedes-Benz Group and its US subsidiary have been accused of excessive emissions in around 250,000 diesel vehicles in the past. Since 2016, Daimler has been in the sights of the US justice system because of allegedly doctored measurements on emissions of the pollutant nitrogen oxide. Targeted manipulation of exhaust technology with cheating software like this was used at Volkswagen (VW) for yearsbut the company had always rejected it.
Unlike VW, which in 2015 under pressure from the US authorities had admitted emissions fraud on a large scaleMercedes-Benz did not admit guilt under the previous settlements and the current agreement and was not required to buy back vehicles from customers or have a watchdog monitored by the US authorities. To do this, Mercedes-Benz had to produce cars similar to those in Europe improve via software update.
Total costs of two billion euros due to the scandal
According to a statement, Mercedes-Benz had already updated more than 85 percent of its cars and vans to the corresponding new software in accordance with a previous agreement. The aim of a new incentive program is now to promote additional software updates beyond the level agreed in the 2020 comparison, the company also announced.
According to a spokesman, the costs of settling the dispute amounted to: Diesel scandal in the USA including the new comparisons to over two billion euros. Most recently, in 2024, the US Department of Justice closed its criminal investigations against Mercedes-Benz without filing any charges.
