Almost 3,000 diesel-powered vehicle owners in Germany have joined a class action against Mercedes-Benz in relation to the long-running scandal over emissions of nitrogen oxides, justice officials have told dpa. Initial hearings are to be held on Tuesday in a court in Stuttgart, the city where the company is based. By the end of June, 2,804 Mercedes-Benz owners had joined the class action brought by consumer groups organized in the national vzbv association. Mercedes-Benz stands accused of deliberately manipulating exhaust emission levels during testing, thereby concealing the level of emission…