German manufacturers call to workshops 630,000 diesel vehicles – publico

 
         

                 

                         
                     

                 

 
 

The shock waves of the Volkswagen scandal continues to spread to the German automotive industry. This Friday the major German manufacturers have agreed to call the workshops thousands of vehicles to change the software emission measuring pollutants incorporated into diesel and, in addition, Daimler (owner of Mercedes) opened an investigation internal to detect any irregularities in the environmental testing.

Reuters, citing an unidentified head of the German Government, says Porsche, Volkswagen, Opel, Audi and Mercedes will collect 630,000 vehicles as part of an effort to limit emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from diesel vehicles. Already Bloomberg (quoting the German magazine Bild ) says that the aim is to change a system that is designed to turn off emission control the when the engines reach certain temperatures.

it is still unclear whether this call to the workshops is voluntary or mandatory. For now, it is expected that the German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt, disclose the test results that the German authorities carried out the engines of diesel vehicles following the Volkswagen scandal. It is recalled that the German giant acknowledged in September last year (after a complaint of US environmental authorities) have installed on over 11 million vehicles a fraudulent software that allowed distortion for several years the test results of pollutant emissions.

Since then, these systems came under close scrutiny of the authorities in several countries and the credibility of the company and the automotive industry as a whole has been tested. In recent days, in addition to the Japanese government announced it sent to investigate the Mitsubishi after the manufacturer has recognized the manipulation of environmental data also Peugeot Citroen (PSA) admitted that their offices were targeted search of the French Department to combat fraud . The company led by Portuguese Carlos Tavares assured that complies with environmental rules and that is to provide “full cooperation” to the authorities.

In Germany, the call to the workshops of these 630,000 vehicles includes companies of the Volkswagen Group ( as Porsche and Audi), but also others that are already under suspicion as Mercedes. In February, the EPA, the environmental agency of the United States opened a preliminary investigation on emissions of vehicles of the brand, and this Friday, Daimler (home mother of Mercedes-Benz) announced that it has initiated at the request of department US justice, a process of internal investigations to detect any irregularities.

Meanwhile, it was learned that Volkswagen has more than doubled to EUR 17 billion the amount of provisions it had made to bear the costs of claims and lawsuits associated with the scandal of emissions. The company announced this week that it has reached agreement with the US Justice Department on payments to owners of vehicles with manipulated diesel engines: the manufacturer is prepared to pay the equivalent of 4,400 euros each customer (so far nothing has been announced for the European case) and, moreover, take the retrofitting costs of vehicles with appropriate software.

Reuters writes further that the company can buy the car owners who wish to dispose of them . At issue are at least half a million customers who already have court cases against Volkswagen. The final terms of the agreement will only be known in June, but Reuters reports that the cost to the company could reach ten billion euros.