German Chancellor Angela Merkel intervened on behalf of German auto makers with California environment authorities about the state’s tough emissions rules, saying they were hurting German manufacturers, according to a spokesman for California’s environment agency.

The California Air Resources Board confirmed comments from the agency’s director, Mary Nichols, that were published by the German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche on Thursday, suggesting that the German government may have had information as early as 2010 about Volkswagen AG’s difficulties meeting restrictions on nitrogen oxide emissions in the U.S.

Ms. Merkel met former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills on April 14, 2010. Mr. Schwarzenegger was joined by Ms. Nichols, head of CARB.

Instead of addressing the governor, Ms. Merkel addressed Ms. Nichols.

Ms. Merkel’s “first comment to me after the doors closed was a complaint … that California with its very strict nitrogen oxide limits is hurting German car makers,” Ms. Nichols said, according to the magazine.