VIDEO: PORSCHE TO RECALL 22,000 CARS OVER EMISSIONS SOFTWARE
An announcement has been made by Germany's transport minister of Porsche's recall of 22,000 cars to remove what he says is illegal emissions-controlling software.
Luxury marque Porsche will bear the cost of the recalls of the affected 3-litre Cayenne models. Porsche's sister firm Volkswagen has reported that it will refit almost a million more diesel cars in Germany.
Volkswagen has already admitted in 2015 that some of its diesel cars were fitted with a "defeat device" to cheat on emissions tests – and the consequences have finally rolled in.
The allegations about this issue first emerged in the German magazine Der Spiegel last month. The magazine reported that a source told them that the Porsche Cayenne had a "warm up mode" whose true purpose was to comply with emissions requirements. Tests had apparently shown that once the car was confronted with small bends or a slope it switched to a different mode and emissions increased.
"There is no explanation why this software was in this vehicle," said German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt on Thursday.
"These vehicles are equipped with modern emissions-controlling technology so we think these vehicles are technically able to stick to emissions limits and we, therefore, believe Porsche will quickly be in a position to bring the software into conformity (with the law)".
In the meantime, VW will "offer to refit four million vehicles and thereby significantly reduce emissions", chief executive Matthia Mueller said on Thursday after a meeting with Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks.
2.5 million VW cars are already covered by a recall of diesel vehicles introduced after the firm confessed to cheating on regulatory emissions tests.
It was announced last week that VW subsidiary Audi would be offering a free software upgrade for 850,000 diesel cars in Europe – approximately 600,000 in Germany. This leaves about a million others to be included in the new refit plans. These include models from the subsidiary Porsche, VW's Toureg sport utility vehicles and some of its Transporter vans.
VW has also been forced to defend its record after accusations that it teamed up with other German car firms to breach EU cartel rules. They said it was normal for manufacturers to exchange technical information to speed up innovation.
However, VW declined to comment on specific allegations that five German carmakers colluded on price and technology. Daimler has called the allegations speculative.
EU and German anti-trust regulators are looking at allegations that BMW, Daimler and VW (including subsidiaries Audi and Porsche) collaborated for decades on many factors of development and production – disadvantaging both customers and suppliers.