Five people have been charged in connection with the thefts, which occurred last year at the Mercedes-Benz U.S. International plant in Vance, Alabama.

Brakes have the potential to fail due to corrosion on nearly one million SUVs sold by Mercedes-Benz from 2004 to 2015. 

Automaker Daimler AG and its subsidiary, Mercedes-Benz, have agreed to pay $1.5 billion to the U.S. government and California state regulators to resolve emissions cheating allegations.

Daimler is recalling hundreds of thousands of Mercedes-Benz vehicles including Sprinter van models over diesel emissions issues.