Daimler pays record $30 million fuel mileage fine for 2006

Daimler AG paid a record $30.3 million fine for failing to meet fuel efficiency requirements in the 2006 model year for its import fleet.

The fine was collected in October and made public in a document posted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last month. Since 1983, NHTSA has collected $735 million in fines from companies who failed to meet the requirements of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy program.

The Daimler fine — largely because of Mercedes vehicles imported into the United States — topped the $28 million paid by BMW in 2002. It was levied to the former DaimlerChrysler AG, the company's name before it shed the now standalone Chrysler LLC.

Daimler AG sold an 80.1 percent stake in Chrysler Group to Cerberus Capital Management last year. Chrysler LLC is a privately held unit of the New York private equity fund.

NHTSA also collected $1.01 million from Volkswagen last year because its light truck fleet didn't meet the 21.6 mpg requirement.

Porsche paid $4.6 million in fines on both its import fleet and light truck fleet.

BMW paid $5.1 million on the import fleet. Maserati paid $1.4 million and Ferrari paid $842,000 on its import fleet. Detroit News