An American law firm is said to have commissioned the environmental organization Deutsche Umwelthilfei to carry out emission tests on Mercedes-Benz E cars that are approved in Euro 6 emission class.

According to DUH, Daimler has installed equipment in certain vehicles that is illegal.

These must have reduced the effective exhaust purification of the vehicle's catalyst.

The result: the actual nitrogen oxide emissions when the vehicle is driven on the road are up to 500 percent above the statutory limit value, DUH states at a press conference on Friday.

Expert opinion

The organization refers to an expert opinion with previously unknown ways to manipulate emissions from a Mercedes E-Class car with the help of software.

“The reason is as simple as it is cynical.

It is about profit maximization at the expense of the environment and the health of city dwellers ", says DUH's head Jürgen Resch in the press release.

The statement is based on a review of a Mercedes E350 built in 2016, where the software in eight previously unknown ways kept emissions down in the test environment.

When the exhaust gas cleaning software was later updated, the car suddenly passed the limit values.

According to Axel Friedrich, environmental and traffic expert, this shows that the companies' explanations are incorrect.

- It is the car was technically good enough to meet the limit values, if it has the right software.

So that it would be about engine protection or something else is technically nonsense, he says.

To date, Daimler AG has denied using illegal equipment in diesel cars sold in Germany and Europe.

Volvo was pointed out

The so-called "Dieselgate" started in 2015 when it was revealed that Volkswagen programmed millions of cars so that they gave false emission results during testing.

In addition to Volkswagen, in recent years Daimler, Ford, Fiat, Renault and Peugeot, among others, have been singled out in the diesel scandal.

In January last year, DUH also accused Volvo Cars of deliberate exhaust fraud, which the company firmly denied.

“All our cars are tested, certified and approved according to current regulations and the technology used for exhaust gas cleaning is standard in the industry and well known to authorities.

Volvo Cars has never used any form of test manipulation ", wrote Volvo's press department in a comment.