
Mercedes-Benz has been warned of potentially facing a ban for its cars using the OM642 diesel engine found in the E350 BlueTec
A leaked letter from the German Federal Motor Transport Authority indicates that Mercedes-Benz was accused of using cheating devices to get through the more stringent Euro 6 emission norms. The infamous dieselgate scandal shook the global auto industry like no other when it came to light and it made individual rule-setting authorities extra cautious.
Dated July 7, 2023 the leaked letter noted that three defeat devices heavily based on software manipulations were seen on Mercedes-Benz’s OM642 diesel engine found in the E350 BlueTec. The German auto major has been warned of potentially facing a ban for its cars using this powertrain as two of the three devices were alleged to have altered engine operations based on temperature parameters.
Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) brought the matter to light as the letter was leaked a few days ago without citing the source. In response, Mercedes-Benz told Reuters that a solution has been put in place to fix the issue through software updates. Just over a year ago, the European Court of Justice declared that any software based defeat devices are strictly illegal.
It has been noted that the luxury carmaker was given a deadline of July 27, 2023 but reports point out that an extension was received and this is not the first time the brand has come under scrutiny. In late 2021, DUH issued a report accusing Mercedes-Benz of using eight defeat devices in the E-Class featuring OM642 diesel engine that complies with Euro 6 emission norms.
Besides ruling the devices illegal, DUH found that they reduced the amount of AdBlue injected to neutralise NOx. The aftermath of the dieselgate is that several European car producers have been closely watched by regulatory agencies across the globe and just a while ago, Audi’s CEO Ruper Stadler was fined over a million euros for his part in the emission scandal.
Daimler paid billions to settle cases from California Air Resources Board, the US Department of Justice and others in the United States back in 2020 and similar settlements have been made in many developed countries as well.