Washington (EFE).- Mercedes-Benz has agreed to pay $149.6 million to U.S. authorities to end the lawsuit filed by the country’s states for the use of illegal software that falsified the emissions of its diesel vehicles. The agreement was announced by New York Attorney General Letitia James in a statement in which she explained that, as part of the agreement, Mercedes-Benz will also pay $2,000 to the owners of vehicles that were repaired to comply with emissions regulations. “The company will also need to adopt extensive corrective measures to prevent future misconduct and comply with strict supervision requirements,” the text added. “Mercedes promised New Yorkers clean and ecological cars, but instead sold vehicles that polluted our air and put public health at risk,” James said.
The Case Against Mercedes-Benz in the U.S.
In 2020, the New York Attorney General, along with eight other attorneys general, initiated an investigation that concluded that Mercedes-Benz installed illegal software in hundreds of thousands of diesel vehicles sold in the U.S. to conceal the actual emissions of the engines. Between 2008 and 2017, the German manufacturer sold more than 200,000 vehicles in the U.S. equipped with illegal software that allowed them to emit 30 to 40 times more than permitted. According to the agreement, Mercedes-Benz will pay $120 million to the states that were part of the lawsuit. Another $29.6 million is a temporarily suspended penalty, which will be reduced by $750 for each affected vehicle that the company repairs, removes from the market, or repurchases.
