Daimler recalling 3 MILLION Mercedes diesel cars in Europe for emissions ‘fix’

Daimler – Mercedes’ parent Company – is recalling three million diesel engined cars in  the UK and Europe for a software update to improve emissions.

There have been recent rumblings from Germany that Daimler – parent company of Mercedes and Smart – has been playing games with software to deliver impressive emissions when cars are subject to official scrutiny.

No official charges have been levelled against Daimler, but German authorities – state officials and police – did pile in to Daimler’s sites in Germany in May looking for evidence of false advertising and manipulation of emissions.

Daimler has said, in response, that their cars are all legal, but it looks like they’ve decided to be proactive before things get out of hand, and are recalling three million diesel-engined cars in Europe for a ‘Software Update’.

Mercedes boss, Dieter Zetsche, said:

The public debate about diesel engines is creating uncertainty. We have therefore decided on additional measures to reassure drivers of diesel cars and to strengthen confidence in diesel technology.

The new software will cut the levels of Nox emissions and is being rolled out to almost all Daimler’s cars with EU5 and EU6 diesel engines in a task which will cost Daimler around £200 million, and follows an earlier voluntary recall for smaller engined diesels and V-Class commercials earlier this year.

The task of updating software in three million cars in Europe is daunting, and although it will start in the coming weeks it won’t finish until late 2018.

But in light of VW’s dieselgate experiences, a proactive move on emissions software is probably very sensible.