CARSON CITY, Nev. (KOLO) – Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford is announcing a $150 million settlement with Mercedes Benz over alleged emissions fraud.
He and a coalition of 50 other AGs say the car manufacturer violated Nevada laws prohibiting unfair or deceptive trade by marketing and selling cars equipped with emissions defeat devices designed to circumvent emissions standards.
Ford says around 3,100 impacted cars were sold or registered in Nevada.
According to Ford, starting in 2008 and continuing into 2016, Mercedes marketed and distributed more than 211,000 diesel passenger cars and vans equipped with software defeat devices that optimized emission controls during emissions tests, while reducing those controls outside of normal operations.
The AGs argued that the devices allowed cars to far exceed many legal limits of nitrogen oxides emissions, a harmful pollutant.
“Nevadans deserve honest information about the products they purchase and the air they breathe,” said Attorney General Ford. “This settlement holds Mercedes-Benz accountable for misleading consumers and evading emissions standards, while delivering meaningful relief for impacted vehicle owners and reinforcing that companies cannot put profits ahead of public health and environmental protections.”
Ford says the car manufacturer did this to achieve design and performance goals such as increased fuel efficiency and reduced maintenance that it would be otherwise unable to achieve. He says Mercedes concealed the existence of these devices from the public as well as federal and state regulators and that they marketed their cars as being environmentally friendly and within applicable emissions regulations.
The settlement requires that Mercedes and Daimler AG pay $120 million to states affected immediately upon the date the settlement becomes effective. An additional $29.67 million will be suspended and potentially be waived pending completion of a consumer relief program that will extend to the estimated 39,565 cars that have not been repaired or removed by Aug. 1, 2023.
Mercedes must also bear the cost of installing approved emission modification software on each effected car.
Mercedes must also provide customers with an extended warranty and provide them a $2,000 per vehicle.
Copyright 2025 KOLO. All rights reserved.
