Daimler will continue the voluntary service action for 3 million customers in Europe to provide diesel software updates for Mercedes cars (around 3 million of them). This software update is to improve the emissions control of the diesel vehicles, the service action comes amidst the global view of diesel vehicles thanks to the Volkswagen “dieselgate” scandal.
“The public debate about diesel engines is creating uncertainty – especially for our customers. We have therefore decided on additional measures to reassure drivers of diesel cars and to strengthen confidence in diesel technology,” stated Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars. “ We are convinced that diesel engines will continue to be a fixed element of the drive-system mix, not least due to their low CO2 emissions.”
The diesel software update will be for all Euro 5 and Euro 6 diesel vehicles in Europe and Mercedes will work closely with German authorities to implement this. Mercedes is investing €220million for this upgrade whilst the customer is not charged any fee at all. The software upgrade will continue on due to the high number of vehicles involved.
Mercedes is going to still continue with diesel technology whilst Volkswagen, after the whole debacle has decided to focus on electric vehicles. Volvo has announced that they will stop making combustion engine cars by 2019.
Mercedes-Benz has already proven that diesel engines can meet the stricter EU emission regulations to come in the future with a completely new engine family. With an investment of approximately three billion euros, the company has developed a new generation of engines whose exemplary emissions have been confirmed by measurements carried out by independent institutes. Following the market launch of the new four-cylinder OM 654 engine in the new E-Class in 2016, the launch of the modular engine family will now be implemented rapidly across the entire model portfolio.
