German motor authority probes more Mercedes emissions software

Germany’s motor vehicle authority KBA is investigating Daimler on suspicion that 60,000 Mercedes cars were fitted with software aimed at tricking emissions tests, news agency Reuters reports, based on a report by the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. A spokesman for Daimler, owner of Mercedes-Benz, said the carmaker was reviewing the facts and fully cooperating with the KBA. Bild am Sonntag said the KBA was looking into suspicious software in Mercedes-Benz GLK 220 CDI cars produced between 2012 and 2015, after tests showed they only meet emissions limits when a certain function is activated.  

As more and more countries around the world announce concrete goals to phase out internal combustion engines in passenger cars, the automobile's birthplace of Germany is embroiled in a scandal over exhaust emissions manipulation in diesel cars. When "dieselgate" broke in September 2015, it appeared to concern only country's largest car company, Volkswagen. Since then, almost all major German carmakers have become implicated. In April 2019, the European Commission officially accused carmakers VW, BMW and Daimler of illegal collusion to avoid competition on emissions reduction technology.