A Mercedes-Benz BlueTEC owner sued the carmaker in the United States, arguing that Clean Diesel vehicles are pre-programmed to emit higher levels of nitrogen oxide than the law allows.
The man filed the class-action lawsuit against Mercedes in New Jersey, adding more fuel to the global diesel scandal.
The class-action lawsuit resembles accusations that befell German automaker Volkswagen AG last year. The plaintiff claims that BlueTec cars from Mercedes contain a device that shuts off a nitrogen oxide-reducing mechanism in its exhaust.
"All our vehicles comply with regulatory frameworks," Joerg Howe, parent company Daimler AG's spokesman, responds.
He goes on to add that all Daimler vehicles, Mercedes included, respect the pollution laws.
Global Diesel Scandal
The lawsuit takes place only five months after Volkswagen conceded that it tampered with the software in its diesel engine vehicles in order to cheat emission testing.
The scandal rippled throughout the car industry, causing diesel engine manufacturers to be looked upon with suspicion. One of the main selling points of diesel engines used to be their environmental friendliness, but the Volkswagen scandal threw a shadow of doubt on the matter.
In January, it was found that the stocks of Renault SA took a dive as a result of sudden investigations from French anti-fraud authorities. Following the investigation, the company recalled 15,000 of its cars to make sure these comply with emissions regulations.
The New Jersey complaint underlines that the gizmo installed in Mercedes's clean diesel models kills pollution controls when the temperatures go under below 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). This permits the cars to break emissions standards.
Allegedly, Mercedes affirms that the shut-off is intentional and has the purpose of protecting the engine in cold temperatures.
Dutch Independent Testing
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is the law firm that took the American case against Mercedes. The firm already gathered expertise in similar cases against Volkswagen AG.
Hagens Berman quotes research by independent testing agency TNO, at the commission of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment. Its results show that Mercedes C-Class 220 cars exhaust significantly more nitrogen oxide in real-life conditions than in laboratory testing.
"Mercedes never disclosed that, when the temperature drops below 50 degrees, it prioritizes engine power and profits over people," reads the complaint, as cited by Bloomberg.
This means that, in reality, Mercedes's BlueTEC diesels have two modes of functioning: a "clean" one when it is warm outside, and a "dirty" one when it gets chilly.
"It's normal that emissions can be higher but not in the range they are now," says Monique de Geus, a spokeswoman for TNO.
She notes that Mercedes's BlueTEC models were among the tested vehicles.
On one hand, the suit asks for a court order that would force Mercedes to call back the affected models or offer their owners a replacement. On the other hand, there are undisclosed damages that the law firm wants to get from the automaker.
Hagens Berman wants to take the class lawsuit to national scale. This means including all United States-based citizens and enterprises that purchased or leased one of the afflicted car models. Among the autos affected are the GLE crossovers, the ML320 and the 350 SUVs, the S-Class and E-Class models.
Should you be curious to learn more about the evolution of the class action lawsuit, the case is Lynevych v. Mercedes-Benz USA, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey.
