Autoblog

Mercedes-Benz pays $28.9m in fines for fuel efficiency crimes

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:27:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Green, Mercedes-Benz, Earnings/Financials

According to the NHTSA, more than $37 million in fines were collected last year for cars sold in 2007 from manufacturers that failed to meet current CAFE standards. Of the six manufacturers that paid fines, Mercedes-Benz was hit the hardest, racking up an astounding $28.9 million bill that was paid in December. That's a huge figure, especially in this troubled automotive market, but it's actually a bit smaller than the $30.3 million fine paid by DaimlerChrysler the previous year -- a figure that still holds the record. Go Daimler!

Other marques that failed to meet CAFE requirements included Volkswagen, which was hit with a $4.5 million sum, along with Porsche and Maserati, both of which paid fees of $1.2 million and Ferrari, which managed to skate by with a relatively paltry $1.1 million fine.

With increasingly strict regulations expected in the near future, these fines don't exactly bode well for the manufacturers of higher-end luxury vehicles, and the fact that the timing for these requirements is still undecided makes it even tougher to plan for them.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

Mercedes-Benz pays $28.9m in fines for fuel efficiency crimes originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NHTSA releases '06 CAFE fines, Daimler(Chrysler) takes cake

Jonathon Ramsey — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 08:33:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Green, Daimler

The automaker formerly known as DaimlerChrysler isn't finished making headlines yet. The NHTSA, which levies fines for manufacturers not meeting CAFE standards, has issued its largest penalty to any automaker, ever, by giving DaimlerChrysler a bill for $30,357.635.50.

The fine is for the carmaker's entire fleet, which includes Mercedes models produced here and overseas. According to the NHTSA, "The penalty for failing to meet CAFE standards recently increased from $5.00 to $5.50 per tenth of a mile per gallon for each tenth under the target value times the total volume of those vehicles manufactured for a given model year."

To be fair, it's only the biggest by a (relatively) small margin, seeing that BMW paid $27,985,925.00 in 2001 -- especially if you consider the drop in the dollar in that time. If you're wondering where part of that European car premium goes -- after it goes into the treasury -- CAFE fines seem to be something Europeans specialize in. Of the more than half a billion dollars in civil CAFE fines, not a cent has been contributed by domestic or Asian automakers. Yet.

[Source: NHTSA via The Truth About Cars]

NHTSA releases '06 CAFE fines, Daimler(Chrysler) takes cake originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 31 Dec 2007 08:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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