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Mercedes-Benz is accused of using "efficiency reduction devices" to pass Euro 6 emission standards, according to a letter leaked by Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority, which faces a ban on sale and recall.

According to the letter, three software-based "efficiency reduction devices" found on the OM642 diesel engine used by Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTec, two of which can change the operation of the engine according to certain temperature parameters, thus improving emission standards. It is understood that in the Mercedes-Benz E-class OM642 diesel engine, there are a total of eight related "efficiency reduction devices", which can control the emission of AdBlue mist urea aqueous solution, which is a catalytic reaction with NOx in the exhaust gas to exhaust nitrogen and water, thereby reducing pollution technology. The group demanded that Mercedes-Benz fix the problems or face a ban and recall.

This is not the first time the EPA has reviewed Mercedes. In November 2021, the group released a public report accusing Mercedes-Benz of using eight shut-off devices on the OM642 diesel engine equipped with Mercedes-Benz E-Class cars, which were effective in reducing significant nitrogen oxide emissions to meet Euro 6 emission standards. In fact, these vehicles emit up to 500 percent more nitrogen oxides than legal limits when they are on the road, Felix Domke, an automotive software expert, said in a report.

In 2015, the well-known German magazines Der Spiegel and Focus jointly reported that Mercedes-Benz exhaust emissions seriously exceeded the standard. Mercedes-Benz has since been embroiled in a years-long investigation into emissions fraud and has been subject to numerous claims and lawsuits.

In April 2019, Mercedes-Benz was investigated by the German Federal Motor Transport Agency for allegedly cheating in emissions tests. In September of the same year, the German government demanded that Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler pay a fine of about 870 million euros for violating relevant emission regulations.

In September 2020, due to excessive emissions and cheating in emissions tests, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) asked Daimler and Mercedes-Benz subsidiaries in the United States to recall Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles sold in the United States between 2009 and 2016 and repair their emission systems. In addition, Daimler will have to pay $1.5 billion to the U.S. government and California regulators.

In February 2022, the Korea Fair Trade Commission said it had decided to fine Mercedes-Benz and its South Korean subsidiary 20.2 billion won for false publicity of its diesel passenger car emissions data. In its announcement, the Korea Fair Trade Commission noted that Mercedes claims its diesel passenger cars can reduce nitrogen oxide emissions (nitrogen oxides are common pollutants in the atmosphere) by 90%, and meet Euro 6 emission standards. However, the Korean Fair Trade Commission said Mercedes installed illegal devices in cars that made the performance of emission reduction devices under normal driving conditions lower than that during certification tests. Therefore, the Korean Fair Trade Commission believes that this is not consistent with the advertising language used by Mercedes-Benz in its promotion, such as "reduce by 90%" and "reach the absolute minimum".

Mercedes isn't the only automaker still facing the consequences of the diesel scandal eight years after it broke. On June 27, former Audi head Rupert Stadler was sentenced by a Munich court to a 21-month suspended sentence, becoming the first former Volkswagen board member to be sentenced over the emissions scandal.

In September 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency disclosed that some of Volkswagen's products had been faked in emission tests in the United States using software control methods to conceal the true emissions, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency accused Volkswagen of violating the Clean Air Act on several models sold in the United States. After the biggest scandal in the history of the automobile industry broke out, it triggered a violent shock within the Volkswagen Group and a major blow to the group's reputation.

Steder is accused of failing to prevent the affected diesel cars from being sold in Europe, even though U.S. authorities have discovered engine manipulation problems, but Steder has always referred to himself as innocent and blamed engineers for failing to detect widespread cheating. In May, Steder finally relented, pleading guilty to negligence in court, and he should have stopped the sale of cheating vehicles after the Audi diesel emissions scandal broke out, but he failed to keep cheating vehicles off the market, even after the scandal became public knowledge. Since then, German prosecutors are still investigating Volkswagen's "dieselgate" emissions scandal, including Hans Dieter Potts and Wendern, who are accused of informing the market too late about the dieselgate incident and its impact.

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