US government: Mercedes owners got recall notices too late

Associated Press

DETROIT

The U.S. government is investigating Mercedes-Benz, alleging that the German automaker has been slow to mail safety- recall notices and file required reports involving recalls of over 1.4 million vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said a review found that Mercedes’ U.S. unit exceeded time limits for mailing letters to owners. In documents posted on its website, the agency also said it has questions about the company’s process and cadence for making recall decisions and notifying the government about them.

After an annual audit of recall files, the agency said it sent a letter to Mercedes outlining a list of problems with 2017 recalls.

“This list included numerous recalls in which MBUSA failed to notify owners of vehicle recalls within the full 60 days the company has under federal regulation,” the letter said.

In addition, the agency found that numerous times, Mercedes left out information about the problem that caused the recall or details of its recall plans. Those details included the percentage of vehicles affected by the recall problem and information about when the recalls would start.

Mercedes reported the information long after recalls began, “thereby not completing its reporting responsibilities and preventing NHTSA from fully assessing the safety risk involved and frustrating the agency’s oversight responsibilities,” the letter said.

The company didn’t answer the agency’s request to identify steps it would take to meet notification requirements, the letter said.

Company spokesman Robert Moran told The Associated Press that customer safety is Mercedes’ highest priority.

NHTSA also said in documents that Mercedes frequently hasn’t been able to meet requirements of sending data into the agency’s web tool that owners can use to find out if their vehicles are being recalled. The tool lets owners key in a vehicle identification number to check for recalls.