German prosecutors and police officers descended upon Daimler offices to search for evidence after the car maker was accused of fraud and misleading advertising.
The raid, conducted by 23 prosecutors and 230 police officers, was carried out across 11 offices in Berlin, Baden-Wuerttembuerg, Lower Saxony and Saxony.
Daimler, the owners of Mercedes-Benz and Maybach, are said to be co-operating with authorities, but employees are suspected of engaging in fraudulent activity and may have tried to hide or destroy evidence. Certain “known and unknown employees” are being sought out for questioning by authorities as a result as the 250-strong German law enforcement team swept offices for incriminating evidence.
More emissions cheating?
Only a few months ago, a number of Daimler employees were involved in a criminal investigation over allegations of emissions cheating. Whilst Daimler strongly denies they used “defeat devices” like Volkswagen (VW), there is an indication that they engaged in manipulating diesel emissions by using “auxiliary emissions control devices” to pass test results. These are supposedly “legal” ways of getting through the tests while still pollution way more emissions than vehicles really ought to.
Authorities across the globe probe Daimler
Daimler chair members are no doubt feeling the pressure as authorities are investigating their American offices too. Daimler recently admitted that, whilst they don’t use “defeat devices” as such, they do use certain software to lower emissions readings at certain points during driving, and this is reportedly for the purpose of protecting the engine.
This kind of behaviour is not strictly forbidden under European legislation, and it seems like car manufacturers make good use of it. Renault and Fiat Chrysler are both understood to have used these so-called ‘auxiliary emission control devices’ too. As the dieselgate scandal continues to unfold, we wouldn’t be surprised if European authorities find other car makers guilty of emissions cheating, even with “alternative” software to “manipulate” results.
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