Daimler says does not use defeat devices

Investors rushed out of the premium German carmaker on fears that BMW might also use deception software to manipulate regular emissions test, similar to the devices that Germany’s Volkswagen auto maker admitted to have built into its diesel vehicles.

Volkswagen might not be the only automaker cheating on diesel emissions tests.

The automaker said it is “not familiar with the test mentioned by Auto Bild” but will ask ICCT “for clarification of the test they carried out”.

BWM dropped 6.1 per cent after a report in German magazine Auto Bild said some of its diesel cars were found to exceed emissions standards. The European managing editor of the organisation, Peter Mock, told the newspaper that “all measured data suggest that this is not a VW-specific issue”.

The X3 20d’s 2.0-liter turbodiesel four-cylinder engine is also sold on several U.S. BMW models, including the X3 and 3 Series, but whether they might be in violation here is unclear.

BMW shares traded down 6.2 per cent to €74.9 (RM369) at 11:59am in Frankfurt.

Some “manufacturers seem to be focusing on meeting emission limits over the current test cycle while neglecting real-world operating conditions,”ICCT study co-author Vicente Franco said in a statement. As far as we are concerned, PSA Peugeot Citroën complies with the existing homologation procedures in all countries where the Group operates”.

“No specific details of the test have yet been provided and therefore we can not explain these results”.

It added that it was “unaware” of the test results cited by Auto Bild.

The scandal exploded on Friday when United States officials publicly accused the company of cheating and launched a probe. VW declined to comment.

On Thursday Nordea Asset Management announced that its fund managers were banned from buying VW’s stocks and bonds, saying that “the scandal is unacceptable from an investment point of view”.

“It is clear this Thursday that investors don’t know what to make of the market landscape at the moment, with the indices lurching between losses and gains throughout the morning”, said Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex trading group. Claimed MPG figures have been pie-in-the-sky for years and electric cars whilst “clean” in the emissions sense remain suspiciously/prohibitively expensive and poor ranging.