The German automaker Daimler said Thursday that it had agreed to pay $2.2 billion to settle accusations that Mercedes-Benz cars and vans sold in the United States were programmed to cheat on emissions tests. It is also humbling for a company that has been a symbol of German luxury automaking. The penalty is only a fraction of the more than $20 billion that Volkswagen paid in the United States to settle criminal charges and civil suits by owners and state governments after it was caught using software to dupe regulators. The Volkswagen settlement involved about 600,000 diesel passenger cars, while the Daimler settlement covers about 250,000 passenger cars and vans. Daimler may have received more lenient treatment because it cooperated with the authorities after questions were raised about its emissions systems.

Source: New York Times August 13, 2020 18:22 UTC