> Daimler Customers May Be Unable to Use Diesel Cars!

ARTICLE # 1

By Karin Matussek

Dec. 21 (Bloomberg)

-- Daimler AG customers may be unable to use their Mercedes-Benz E-class, C-class and GLK diesel cars for months because of problems with injection nozzles for the engines, Wirtschaftswoche reported, citing the company.
A supplier cannot deliver enough spares to replace damaged nozzles in the OM651 engine, the magazine added.
The automaker has offered customers temporary free replacements, Wirtschaftswoche said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Karin Matussek in Berlin at kmatussek@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: December 21, 2009 01:46 EST

ARTICLE # 2

Daimler Replacing Fuel Nozzle on 4,500 Mercedes Cars (Update2)

By Cornelius Rahn
Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Daimler AG is replacing diesel- system fuel-injection nozzles on at least 4,500 Mercedes-Benz C- Class, E-Class and GLK models in Europe to reduce fuel clogging and static-electricity charges that limit the vehicles’ speed.
Daimler is installing the new parts for the OM 651 diesel engine as the fault prevents cars from traveling faster than 70 kilometers (44 miles) an hour, said Christoph Horn, a spokesman at Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler. The carmaker, which began the replacements in October as customers reported the problem, will consider actively recalling all 30,000 vehicles using the system should the defect affect a larger number than estimated.
Diesel-powered cars accounted for 45 percent of passenger vehicles sold in western Europe the first nine months of this year, the region’s auto-manufacturers’ association said in October. Daimler introduced the OM 651 at the end of 2008 to meet European Union emissions standards coming into force next year, according to the company’s Web site.
“We don’t currently have enough nozzles in stock to make all the necessary replacements,” Horn said, declining to comment on a report in WirtschaftsWoche magazine that customers must wait for months for the replacement parts.
Daimler fell as much as 44 cents, or 1.2 percent, to 36.31 euros and was down 0.9 percent as of 121:39 p.m. in Frankfurt trading. The stock has declined 37 percent this year.
Supplier Delphi Diesel Systems in Blois, France, “is working to achieve full capacity” to deliver the components to Daimler’s service unit, and customers are receiving replacement cars until their vehicles are fixed, Horn said. He declined to estimate any costs.
The injection nozzles’ failure triggers a software program that limits the car’s speed, Horn said. The faulty components pose no safety issue, he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Cornelius Rahn in Frankfurt at crahn2@bloomberg.net.