Justice Department Ends Mercedes-Benz Emissions Probe Without Filing Charges

 

The automaker reached a $1.5 billion settlement in 2020 related to alleged emissions test cheating. 

The Justice Department has concluded an eight-year-long probe into Mercedes-Benz relating to diesel emissions without filing charges, multiple outlets reported Saturday, nearly four years after the German automaker reached a $1.5 billion settlement to settle separate allegations that it cheated on emissions tests.

Representatives for Mercedes-Benz Group AG confirmed to Bloomberg the DOJ had ended its investigation and had not brought charges against the company, which German outlet Handelsblatt first reported.

It is unclear why the Justice Department ended its probe, according to Handelsblatt, and representatives for the department did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment.

The investigation began in April 2016, when the department requested Mercedes-Benz vehicle maker Daimler “review its certification and admissions process related to exhaust emissions” in the U.S.—months after Volkswagen was found to be cheating on emissions tests, a scandal later dubbed “Dieselgate.”

KEY BACKGROUND

The investigation stemmed from a class action lawsuit that alleged some of the automaker’s vehicles violated emissions standards, according to Bloomberg. Mercedes-Benz said it “agreed to cooperate fully” with the investigation, and reportedly said the claims in the lawsuit were “baseless.” Daimler and Mercedes-Benz reached a $1.5 billion settlement in September 2020 with regulators—the DOJ, Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board—to settle allegations of emissions cheating, which allegedly violated the Clean Air Act and California state law. The settlement stemmed from separate civil complaints from the California Air Resources Board and the U.S. The complaints alleged Daimler manufactured, imported and sold more than 250,000 diesel vans and cars from 2009 to 2016 containing undisclosed auxiliary emission control devices and defeat devices, which caused vehicles to produce compliant emissions when being tested but operate differently and increase nitrogen oxide emissions when being driven, according to the settlement. A defeat device is any device that “bypasses, defeats, or renders inoperative a required element of the vehicle's emission control system,” according to the EPA. The settlement involved civil penalties, a nationwide recall and repair program. It was approved by a federal judge the following March.

TANGENT

On Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it was investigating Tesla’s handling of a recall of more than 2 million cars involving its Autopilot system. The electric vehicle maker recalled the cars in December to fix a flaw in the Autopilot system.