Automotive Regulation and Enforcement

Mercedes-Benz USA and parent Daimler AG have agreed to a $149.6 million settlement with a coalition of 50 state attorneys general plus D.C. and Puerto Rico, resolving allegations that between 2008 and 2016 the automaker secretly installed software in more than 211,000 U.S. diesel cars and vans to cheat emissions tests. The deal, which follows a separate $1.5 billion federal and California settlement in 2020 and still requires court approval, includes $120 million in payments to states, a suspended $29 million contingent on compliance, a $2,000-per-vehicle consumer repair program for roughly 40,000 unrepaired vehicles, and marketing and reporting restrictions, while Mercedes formally denies liability.