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Mercedes logo at a conference in Stuttgart
Photo: Andreas Gebert / REUTERS
In order to end the legal battle in the USA due to increased diesel emissions, Daimler has to pay a total of 1.9 billion euros.
The US Department of Justice and the vehicle manufacturer announced this.
The sum includes two comparisons.
In this way, Daimler would settle both the investigative proceedings of the US authorities and the numerous lawsuits filed by car owners.
The comparisons with the US authorities will cost around $ 1.5 billion.
This includes a civil law fine of $ 875 million.
The litigation concerns the emission levels of around 250,000 diesel vehicles against which various US authorities had taken action: the environmental authorities EPA and CARB in California, the attorney general of the state, the US Department of Justice and the US Customs and Border Protection.
Diesel vehicles have been under increased scrutiny since the Volkswagen diesel scandal in the USA.
The Wolfsburg-based company had to pay billions of dollars in fines and compensation for diesel customers in North America.
Fiat Chrysler reached a $ 800 million settlement with US authorities in 2019 to dispel allegations of using illegal emissions software.
In July, the Italian-American company said it was in talks to settle a criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice.
No admission of guilt
Daimler emphasized that this was not an admission of guilt.
Whether the functions used in the vehicles are "defeat devices" - that is, impermissible shutdown devices for exhaust gas cleaning - is not determined in the course of the comparison: "The settlement agreements explicitly state that the company denies the allegations of the authorities and the claims of the class-action plaintiffs and none Liability to the United States, California, the plaintiffs or otherwise. "
The group had always rejected targeted manipulation of the exhaust technology with a cheat software (as it was used for years at Volkswagen).
Now, as in Europe, Daimler has to improve the cars via software updates.
There are also other environmental measures for which the group has to pay.
In addition to the sums determined in the comparisons, Daimler expects costs in the mid three-digit million range to implement the agreement.
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bah / Reuters / dpa