Mercedes Benz (Daimler Benz) has been forced to recall over 700,000 vehicles, namely Vito vans, C Class and GLC SUV after the German government ordered the company into “an immediate formal recall because of prohibited shutoff devices.” Mercedes Benz has been found to have designed defeat device software specifically for the purposes of manipulating C02 emissions in order to pass strict emissions regulations for a range of diesel-powered cars.

It isn’t unusual for automotive companies to issue recalls, a car is a complex product made up of many thousands of components, mechanical or otherwise. In 2016 Mercedes issued a recall for 5m cars over defective airbag control units. The most serious recall in 2016 was issued over a possible power steering failure on the C Class, a software update fixed the unintended problem. During 2015 Mercedes Benz issued no less than six recalls the most alarming of which concerned a rubber seal that could have lead to a possible fire risk for the CLS and E Class, around 147,000 vehicles were affected. For Mercedes Benz, the recall list is endless, back into 2006 the $450,000 SLR supercar was recalled due to a problem with the electrical system that could catch fire due to high temperatures. We know about these recalls because Mercedes did the responsible thing by owning up and fixing what had to be fixed. However, car manufacturers usually leave it to the last moment hoping the problem will never be reported. Automotive companies are known to use actuaries, who are kind-of-like advanced accountants and their job primarily involves the management of risk based on decades of accumulated data. Actuaries measure data on say, how many people die from faultily made products and give informed decisions on whether it’s cheaper to fix the faulty product or go ahead and manufacture with the known fault. Statistically speaking, if there is a small risk to life it may well be cheaper to pay compensation to the – for the sake of an argument – 5 people who may die as a result of known negligence. We are not saying people have died driving a faulty Mercedes if you have evidence to prove otherwise then let us known, but this is a known practice used industry wide. The bottom line is that it’s more expensive to issue a recall, that’s why Mercedes had been in intense negotiations with the German government to prevent a recall because of the outlay involved in fixing the defeat devices, which involves a software update. Issuing a recall is seen as taking responsibility but Mercedes did not want to take initial responsibility in an era where people are now concerned with the state of the environment and air quality. Mercedes may also have had one eye on the used car market which could affect future resale values, thus future revenue and lucrative used car consumer finance deals will also take a hit, that’s why Mercedes were procrastinating, delaying and banging tables with the German government. Diesel cars are known to emit harmful levels of nitrogen-oxide which is known to be poisonous to life and causes premature deaths worldwide according to the World Health Organisation. So, with Mercedes knowingly and deliberately cheating and lying about how clean their cars are when in reality they are actually more harmful that officially tested, it is the height of individual and collective irresponsibility. And I don’t understand why they want to poison potential future customers. This is an example of white-collar crime, the most financially rewarding of all crime syndicates, using the tried and trusted method of hiding behind the shield of corporate respectability, enabled by silver-tongued, educated professionals to sell lies in the vision of luxury motoring. Mercedes were forced kicking and screaming into issuing a recall, because to them it’s all about the money and all about the oily residue of losing prestige, for the short amount of time they will lose it because the vast majority of consumers will eventually forget and move on. The recall is expected to cost Mercedes around 100 million euros, small change for a company that generates €164.330 billion per year with a net income of €10 billion. The German government traditional threatens substantial fines to car companies found to have cheated the consumer. Rarely do these threats materialise into actual fines or penalties or prosecution (maybe public humilation) because the German government has a kind of vested interest in keeping its manufacturing base competitive with either direct or indirect support. But this tacit support may be coming to an end as German voters and possibly consumers demand car manufacturers take more responsibility for the environment instead of feeding the debate with false narratives and publicity stunts to, convince the consumer they are not being poisoned, and that they (Mercedes) really do care about the environment when the evidence clearly suggests polar opposite.