U.S. judge lets most emissions claims against Daimler proceed

A federal judge allowed most claims against Daimler AG to move forward in a 2016 lawsuit by vehicle owners that claims the German automaker’s Mercedes diesel vehicles used illegal software to emit excess emissions.

In a ruling late on Friday, Judge Jose Linares of U.S. District Court in New Jersey also said that claims against auto supplier Robert Bosch GmbH can proceed, rejecting a bid by the German companies to throw out the lawsuits.

Last month, Bosch agreed to pay nearly $131 million to settle claims from Fiat Chrysler diesel owners and resolve all investigations by 47 U.S. state attorneys general into its involvement with diesel vehicles, including into the Volkswagen emissions cheating. read more »

VW's Porsche informs authorities of possible issue with emissions

Volkswagen’s Porsche unit said on Thursday it had informed German authorities of potential issues with its emissions data, following a report in Germany’s Der Spiegel that the figures for its 911 models of 2016 and 2017 were inaccurate.

“Porsche has identified issues in connection with individual roll-out tests,” Porsche said in a statement. read more »

More spontaneous fires reported in some Kia, Hyundai vehicles

Nearly seven months later, Mark King is still waiting to find out why his parked 2011 Kia Sorrento burst into flames and nearly burned his house down in July.

"One investigator had mentioned he'd never seen a car fire where the roof of the car had a hole burned through it," King says.

To date, 280 Kia Optima, Kia Sorrento, Hyundai Sonata and Hyundai Santa Fe drivers have reported similar non-crash related fires in their vehicles -- but those are only the cases consumers have reported to the government. read more »