Daimler ordered to recall 774K cars in Europe over emissions cheating

European automakers were delivered a fresh blow on Monday, with the German government demanding Daimler recall hundreds of thousands of cars equipped with emissions cheating software that similarly landed Volkswagen in hot water in the U.S.

Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler was ordered to recall 744,000 vehicles across Europe as a result of the decision.

{mosads}The Mercedes C-CLass, Vito and GLC diesel models are the vehicles mainly affected by the recall, according to the German transportation ministry. The recall will force the company to fix the software settings on its cars.

German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer said in a statement Monday after a meeting with Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche that the company was expected to work “with cooperative transparency” with the government and “at maximum speed,” The Associated Press reported.

Earlier Monday authorities additionally raided Audi CEO Richard Stadler’s home earlier in the day and were under intense discussions and negotiations with him. Stadler previously was a member of the Volkswagen management board.

The news comes nearly three years after Volkswagen, admitted to having installed software in its cars to falsely pass smog emissions testing in order to cheat established auto emissions standards in the U.S. 

Since then the company has settled a federal lawsuit as well as a number of lawsuits from individual states, costing Daimler billions of dollars. In October 2016, Volkswagen settled with Environmental Protection Agency and agreed to spend up to $14.7 billion to remediate excess emissions.

Most recently, in May, Volkswagen and two of its affiliates agreed to pay West Virginia $2.65 million for failing to adhere to U.S. smog standards. Under the settlement, Volkswagen, Porsche and Audi agreed to never engage in deceptive practices in future dealings in the state.

The settlement occurred a week after Volkswagen reached a similar agreement with Maryland for $33.5 million.

Germany’s decision comes as diesel vehicles are under increased scrutiny due to their heightened emissions. 

This story has been updated