The parent company of Mercedes Benz, Daimler, announced this week that it plans to invest $2.9 billion to develop the next generation of diesel engines.

By 2019, the company’s plan is for the new engines to help it meet stricter pollution standards.

"We are spending the money on engine development and production capacities," Bernhard Heil, vice-president of product group powertrain at Daimler AG told Reuters.

A portion of the money has already been spent, the automaker said.

The Reuters report says that Daimler will use selective catalytic reduction (SCR) on its smaller front wheel drive cars by 2019. That would replace the nitrous oxide trap exhaust systems used now, the company said.

In Canada, Mercedes Benz offers several diesel models, including the E 250, GLK 250, GLE 350d and GLE 350d Coupe, and the GL 350.

They use BlueTEC technology, with requires the use of adblue injection systems to reduce harmful emissions released into the atmosphere.