Automotive giant Daimler is under pressure to fix diesel-powered vans that don’t meet emissions requirements.
The company has been given a June deadline by German authorities to submit a plan on how to tackle the problem, Associated Press reports.
Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche was also recently summoned to the transport ministry and questioned on the emissions tests.
It comes as Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) officially notified Daimler that it must carry out a recall of its Vito van model with the 1.6-liter diesel Euro 6 engine. This involved over 6,000 vehicles.
KBA allege the programming of two functions of the vehicle’s engine control do not comply with emission regulations.
Diamler says the functions are part of a complex emission-control system for exhaust-gas cleaning and it objects to KBA’s interpretations and is prepared to have them “clarified in a court of law”, the company says.
“Irrespective of the legal clarification of this case, Daimler will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities.
“After receiving the approval of the KBA, Daimler will carry out a software update for the programming in question. Furthermore, the Vito is already included in our service campaign with software updates for more than three million Mercedes-Benz vehicles, which will improve their exhaust emissions,” a company statement says.
Customers will be informed as soon as the update is available and the software will be carried out free of charge.
Daimler already recalled three million diesel cars in 2017 in an effort to improve their emissions performance.
It follows the Volkswagen emissions scandal where the company was found to have cheated emissions testing with illegal software.
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