Daimler Settles With U.S. on Defective Emission Controls

The U.S. Department of Justice said yesterday that DaimlerChrysler Corp. has agreed to spend $90 million to fix defective emission controls on 1.5 million vehicles and pay a $1 million penalty to settle charges that it failed to report the problem to federal regulators. The settlement involves Jeep and Dodge vehicles made from 1996 through 2001, and is the largest involving a failure to report defective emission-control devices to the Environmental Protection Agency, according to the Justice Department.
The New York Times reported that DaimlerChrysler agreed to extend the warranty on catalytic converters on 700,000 of the vehicles involved in the case. It also agreed to recall 500,000 of the vehicles to fix a defect in the on-board diagnostic system and to check the catalytic converters. The company will pay the $1 million fine to the state of California to settle similar charges arising from the investigation by the E.P.A. and the state.