The test results published in today’s report from the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) are mostly comprehensive from our point of view. Like other institutions (e.g. the Department of Transport in the UK), the KBA also confirms in its final report that the test results do not indicate the use of non-permissible software. There are technical reasons for deviations from the certified norm values, as is the case in other tests as well. To reduce deviations between laboratory test results and real driving emissions, the European Union has decided to introduce the WLTP (Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure) and the Real Driving Emissions (RDE) test methods. Mercedes-Benz welcomes this move and fully supports it.
Mercedes-Benz will continue to invest in new diesel powertrains and will launch an all-new family of diesel engines, which will be widely applied throughout our product range. The first product of the new engine family is our four-cylinder diesel engine in the new E-Class, which already complies with future legal requirements. By 2019, we will roll out SCR technology across all our Mercedes-Benz model series in Europe. Additionally, we will continually evaluate how we can improve the efficiency of our exhaust-gas aftertreatment in current and future models.
We will offer customers of our compact cars and the V-Class an improvement of their cars’ emissions behavior on a voluntary basis. The entry-level engines of our compact cars include one engine variant from Renault (OM 607) in the context of our cooperation with Renault. That engine from Renault is adapted to the requirements of our Mercedes-Benz compact models. We have been informed about the software update by our cooperation partner and will of course offer this service to our customers on a voluntary basis. As a result, we will achieve a significant improvement in emissions this year.
We are cooperating closely with the German Federal Motor Transport Authority and will provide information on that in due time.
