On Tuesday evening, Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler released a statement saying that it would voluntarily recall three million Mercedes-Benz diesels in the EU to offer a software update that would improve emissions control system performance. The recall will cost the company about €220 million ($254 million). Mercedes-Benz was already in the process of offering software update-focused recalls to improve emissions systems in compact-class cars and V-Class cars with diesel engines, so this new announcement widens the radius on those existing recalls.
Dieter Zetsche, a Daimler AG Chairman and the head of the German automaker's Mercedes-Benz brand, explained the action as a move to clear up uncertainty. He described the recalls as “additional measures to reassure drivers of diesel cars and to strengthen confidence in diesel technology.”
“We are convinced that diesel engines will continue to be a fixed element of the drive-system mix, not least due to their low CO2 emissions,” Zetsche added.
The company’s statement added that the software update would apply to almost all Euro 5 and Euro 6 diesel vehicles from Mercedes-Benz. (The “Euro” regulations refer to EU rules on automotive emissions. Euro 6 is the most recent, and it’s about to get stricter—you can read about the new test here.)
Daimler’s statement added that the software update will make “a significant contribution to the reduction of nitrogen-oxide emissions from diesel vehicles in European inner cities.”
The automaker is in the middle of launching a new family of diesel engines following an investment of nearly €3 billion ($3.46 billion), and it’s been the subject of increased scrutiny for possible cheating from both German and US authorities. But Mercedes-Benz’ commitment to diesel in the face of such negative public opinion is an outlier here as Volkswagen is pushing for electric vehicles, Volvo has declared its intent to stop developing diesel vehicles, and now Porsche is pondering whether it will discontinue diesel after 2020.
In an interview on Tuesday, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume told Reuters that, by 2020, the company will weigh whether to discontinue diesels. “Blume said Porsche would offer a mix of combustion engines, plug-in hybrid vehicles, and purely battery-powered cars over the next 10-15 years and would decide at the end of the decade whether diesel had a future at Porsche,” Reuters wrote. Porsche is about to pay out a sizable sum for cheating on emissions tests in the US like its Audi and Volkswagen cousins.
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