Mercedes-Benz faces new emissions recall due to older vans - Bild

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Daimler <DAIGn.DE> may have to recall 260,000 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vehicles after German motor vehicle authority KBA warned the luxury carmaker that the transporter vans may contain illegal engine management software, Bild am Sonntag reported.

The latest KBA actions came after Daimler agreed to pay a fine of 870 million euros at the end of September when it admitted a breach of supervisory duties which resulted in emissions violations.

German weekly Bild am Sonntag, without citing sources, said it was now likely that the car and truck maker needed to begin a recall for 260,000 Sprinter vans, since Daimler had been called to a hearing.

Daimler on Sunday confirmed that KBA had demanded a hearing related to its Sprinter vans. Daimler further said the vans in question belonged to a previous generation of vehicles which have been out of production since 2016.

KBA has been made aware that the software found in the vans was also being used in other vehicle variants, Daimler said, adding that it had completed a review of its fleet.

"KBA has now also initiated a hearing procedure. Daimler has presented the functionality to KBA in May 2018 and thereafter explained it in detail in further meetings since summer 2018. We continue to fully cooperate with KBA," a spokesman said.

In June, Daimler issued a profit warning and announced an increase of legal provisions by a high three-digit million euros amount, to cover various ongoing governmental proceedings and measures relating to diesel vehicles.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Toby Chopra)