Merc-Owner And Mitsubishi In US Emission Probe

US officials have dragged Mercedes (Xetra: 710000 - news) -owner Daimler (LSE: 0NXX.L - news) and Mitsubishi (LSE: 7035.L - news) into separate investigations as the industry faces heightened questions over fuel economy and emission levels following the VW scandal.

Daimler confirmed on Friday that the Justice Department contacted the company last week over "possible indications of irregularities" in its emissions certification process.

While it was not clear which vehicles the authorities are interested in, it is known that US owners of Mercedes-Benz BlueTEC diesels have filed a class-action lawsuit in a complaint relating to exhaust levels.

They allege the cars are programmed in a way that lets them emit illegal levels of emissions, similar to diesels made by fellow German carmaker Volkswagen (LSE: 0P6N.L - news) , which confirmed settlement plans for hundreds of thousands of US customers on Thursday.

Daimler has dismissed the legal claim against it as being without merit and said the Justice Department query was unrelated.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) said it was complying with the US government's request for information as Mitsubishi faced calls, from the country's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, for fuel economy data amid the fallout from its fakery admission.

The Japanese firm confirmed on Wednesday that staff rigged official tests on four models it produced, including two it made for Nissan.

It has insisted all 625,000 vehicles affected were only sold in Japan but added that its own investigations were yet to be completed.

Regulators, and the industry, have admitted frustration over emission and fuel economy testing regimes which are set for an overhaul.

There were further calls for 'real world' tests to replace lab-based checks after it emerged on Thursday that all diesel models tested by the UK Government after the VW scandal exceeded laboratory pollution limits while being driven on the road.

Mitsubishi shares have lost almost 50% of their value over three days of trading amid warnings in Japan it may have to buy-back the cars caught up in the efficiency row.

Offices were raided by officials seeking further information on Thursday.