This Monday there will be a showdown in Berlin Dieter Zetsche and Andreas Scheuer , The CSU Federal Transport Minister calls for clarification from the Daimler chief in the scandal of manipulated diesel vehicles. According to SPIEGEL information, however, there seems to be a lack of insight and good will in the car manufacturer: Daimler obviously wants to make an offer to the minister that would not promote the investigation of the scandal.
Just before the meeting has now BDI -Chef Dieter Kempf the handling of the German Automanager with the diesel affair criticized. “Who made mistakes, they should name, apologize and put them off, so take responsibility to finally regain confidence,” said the President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) – and aimed not just at the Daimler boss, but about the strategy of Volkswagen managers. The announcement of manipulations by the Wolfsburg-based company in autumn 2015 marked the beginning of the exhaust gas scandal.
“I do not want to hide the fact that I would have wished more than once after the announcement of the law violations a different behavior,” said Kempf. “Dealing with mistakes, even fraudulent, has made many in politics and many consumers rightly annoying – by the way, many in the companies,” said Kempf. It caused a huge image and trust damage for the economy as a whole. The manufacturers would have to do anything to regain confidence.
Possibly far more Daimler vehicles affected
Kempf said that included “fastest possible” software updates. “But I can not judge the feasibility for every model.” The auto industry had pledged software updates for millions of cars by the end of 2018 for better air to reduce pollutant emissions. However, the timetable for these conversions of older diesel cars is shaky.
In addition, the diesel scandal at Daimler threatens to assume far greater proportions than previously known. At the meeting of scouring and Zetsche it should actually go above all to the clarification of exhaust gas allegations with the Mercedes vans model Vito. However, the programming in question could also be found in other vehicles of the manufacturer.
a Report of the “Bild am Sonntag” according to the Federal Motor Transport Authority has now discovered five “inadmissible shutdown functions” on Daimler models. The authority alleges the suspicion that these software functions are used in the newer diesel fleet with the Euro-6 emissions standard. Almost a million vehicles are said to be affected.
Video: The consequences of the Diesel judgment