Information from the luxury car brand Mercedes-Benz to explain emissions levels in some of its cars has been requested by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Daimler on Sunday.
Claiming that the Mercedes-Benz cars conform with all rules and norms, a spokesman for Daimler said they are fully cooperating with the request for information.
There was no comment from the EPA.
A class-action lawsuit was filed by law firm Hagens Berman on Feb. 18, 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and the EPA requests for information comes in response to that class action, Daimler said.
Mercedes had marketed its BlueTEC vehicles as being "the world's cleanest and most advanced diesel" and the suit accuses Mercedes of deceiving consumers with false representations about that particular car make.
A Daimler spokesman said the suit is wholly unfounded and without merit.
Illegal, dangerous levels of nitrogen oxide (NOx) at levels 65 times higher than those permitted by the EPA were being emitted by the car make when operating in temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit and that the automaker knowingly programmed its Clean Diesel vehicles to emit such high levels of emission, the law suit alleges.
Its cars conform to all relevant rules and regulations, Daimler said.
A system to treat exhaust fumes can operate at a level of reduced effectiveness to prevent condensation from building up in the exhaust system under certain circumstances, Daimler however said.
A spokesman said late on Sunday that this is permissible and not illegal.
The first to report about the EPA request information was the German daily Handelsblatt. “We know about the lawsuit. We have contacted Mercedes and requested the test results for the U.S. diesel engines," the German daily Handelsblatt reported in its Monday edition quoting EPA director Christopher Grundler as saying.
EPA spokeswoman Laura Allen confirmed Grundler's comments.
(Source:www.reuters.com & www.cnbc.com)
Claiming that the Mercedes-Benz cars conform with all rules and norms, a spokesman for Daimler said they are fully cooperating with the request for information.
There was no comment from the EPA.
A class-action lawsuit was filed by law firm Hagens Berman on Feb. 18, 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and the EPA requests for information comes in response to that class action, Daimler said.
Mercedes had marketed its BlueTEC vehicles as being "the world's cleanest and most advanced diesel" and the suit accuses Mercedes of deceiving consumers with false representations about that particular car make.
A Daimler spokesman said the suit is wholly unfounded and without merit.
Illegal, dangerous levels of nitrogen oxide (NOx) at levels 65 times higher than those permitted by the EPA were being emitted by the car make when operating in temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit and that the automaker knowingly programmed its Clean Diesel vehicles to emit such high levels of emission, the law suit alleges.
Its cars conform to all relevant rules and regulations, Daimler said.
A system to treat exhaust fumes can operate at a level of reduced effectiveness to prevent condensation from building up in the exhaust system under certain circumstances, Daimler however said.
A spokesman said late on Sunday that this is permissible and not illegal.
The first to report about the EPA request information was the German daily Handelsblatt. “We know about the lawsuit. We have contacted Mercedes and requested the test results for the U.S. diesel engines," the German daily Handelsblatt reported in its Monday edition quoting EPA director Christopher Grundler as saying.
EPA spokeswoman Laura Allen confirmed Grundler's comments.
(Source:www.reuters.com & www.cnbc.com)
