The news is out that Mercedes-Benz and BMW are looking into their own diesel vehicles to make sure that they’re not the next VW, and because the feds told them to do it:
Daimler said the diesel probe stems from communications it has had with the U.S. Dept. of Justice. This action also follows the filing of a lawsuit by a U.S.-based Mercedes vehicle owner charging the German automaker with allegedly using a device to affect its emissions tests. The suit, filed by Seattle, Washington-based law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shaprio, LLP, says the action is based, in part, on an article published in German magazine Der Spiegel, which claims that Mercedes admitted to designing the diesel-powered vehicles to shut off emissions controls in cooler ambient temperatures to protect the engine.
And:
BMW, too, has also looked at its own diesel certification process. BMW North America president Ludwig Willisch last month at the New York International Auto Show said the company had reviewed its internal emissions certification processes, and was satisfied that it had acted properly with regulators. Willisch added that BMW engineers could not replicate the performance of VW diesel vehicles the company tested prior to news breaking last September that VW had cheated. “We thought we were stupid in not being able to figure it out…now we know,” said Willisch.
The fact that the feds are looking at other car companies that make diesel vehicles is normal in a situation like this. There’s likely nothing here to see. At least one hopes so.