Joerg Kerner, the head of powertrain development at Porsche, has reportedly been arrested by German prosecutors investigating the Dieselgate emissions cheating affair. A source has informed Reuters Kerner was taken into custody on Thursday, European time, and is being held as he is considered a flight risk...
Matthias Mueller, CEO of the Volkswagen Group, could be replaced by as soon as this Friday, if a report out of Germany proves to be correct. According to Handelsblatt, current Mueller will be removed from his role as CEO, even though his contract runs until 2020...
BMW facilities in Austria and Germany have been searched by prosecutors in search of defeat devices. According to a report in Automotive News, around 100 police and law enforcement officials raided the brand's Munich HQ and its engine plant in Steyr, Austria. Prosecutors told the outlet "there is an early suspicion that BMW has used a test bench-related defeat device", in a statement...
March 12, 2018: Testing carried out on a single Volkswagen vehicle has revealed an increase in fuel use since it was given a software update in 2017 for the so-called 'Dieselgate' emissions scandal...
UPDATE: Porsche has released an updated statement, which has been added to the end of the article. Porsche has ended production of the Macan S Diesel and Panamera 4S Diesel, but reports of diesel's demise could be premature. An overnight report from Autocar said the company would stop building its last two diesel models, as part of a "cultural shift" toward plug-in hybrid vehicles...
Volkswagen has suspended Thomas Steg, chief lobbyist, over emissions tests partially funded by the car maker, which are said to have involved monkeys breathing in air with diesel fumes. "We are currently in the process of investigating the work of the EUGT, which was dissolved in 2017, and drawing all the necessary consequences...
In a report by The New York Times, court documents are said to confirm caged monkeys were exposed to diesel emissions for hours during tests in 2014, in an attempt to challenge a World Health Organisation (WHO) classification of diesel particulates, or 'soot', as a carcinogen...
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has entered talks with diesel owners and the US Department of Justice, as the parties near settlement over cars fitted with emissions defeat devices. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a lawsuit against FCA in May this year, arguing the company used a 'defeat device' in 104,000 Ram 1500 pickup trucks and Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs fitted with the 3...
Audi has ditched plans to sell Ducati, electing instead to keep the motorcycle division. Rupert Stadler, CEO of Audi, confirmed to Reuters and other news outlets: "I can assure you that Ducati belongs to the Audi family. Ducati is the perfect implementation of our premium philosophy in the world of motorbikes...
Oliver Schmidt, a former Volkswagen executive, has been sentenced to seven years jail for his role in the Dieselgate emissions cheating scheme. Schmidt agreed to a plea deal in October this year, and was officially given the maximum penalty this week: a seven year jail term and a US$400,000 ($525,000) fine...
Authorities in the US have reportedly approved a fix for around 38,000 vehicles fitted with the Volkswagen Group 3.0-litre TDI turbo-diesel engine as part of the Dieselgate emissions scandal. According to reports from the United States, a letter made public earlier this week says VW Group brands have been approved to make hardware and software changes to vehicles fitted with the 3...
Activists from Greenpeace in the UK have conducted a publicity stunt against Volkswagen as the group attempts to turn people away from diesel cars in the wake of the company’s ongoing emissions cheating scandal. A claimed 25 volunteers in kayaks and boats surrounded the 23,000-tonne cargo ship Elbe Highway, delivering German-made Euro 6-compliant VW diesels (and plug-in hybrid petrol-electric cars) into the UK...
The Frankfurt motor show is big. It’s like if they took Sydney’s international and domestic airports, tripled it in size, took away any form of cohesive internal transport and put lots of cars in it. Even then, I think the Frankfurt show is bigger. Every two years when I attend the show I always vow that next time, I will actually see things...
Mini says that it looks forward to selling many diesel-powered vehicles in the year to come, defending the engine type against its current political and environmental issues following 'Dieselgate' and committing to the technology for the long term...
Porsche Cars Australia will undertake a voluntary recall of the 3.0-litre V6 diesel Cayenne SUV, following confirmation of similar action in Europe. Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority, Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA), last week ordered a ban on registrations for the Cayenne Diesel, with Porsche agreeing to recall around 21,500 vehicles...
After an event billed as the National Diesel Forum, involving Germany's top political leaders, the Volkswagen Group, BMW, Opel and Daimler (parent of Mercedes-Benz) have agreed to upgrade millions of diesel vehicles to cut their pollution output...
Diesel-powered versions of the Porsche Cayenne SUV have been recalled in the company's home market of Germany and banned from sale, following the discovery of what is believed to be a suspect emissions manipulation device. Announced by German transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, the move involves the registration ban of the 3...
The UK government says it will ban the sale of new "conventional" petrol and diesel powered cars by 2040, although hybrids would still be allowed. In announcing the government plan's to tackle air pollution, especially nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Michael Gove, the UK's new environmental secretary, said, "Today’s plan sets out how we will work with local authorities to tackle the effects of roadside pollution caused by dirty diesels, in particular nitrogen dioxide"...
Audi has announced it will recall and upgrade the software for around 850,000 V6 and V8 Euro 5- and Euro 6-compliant turbo-diesel engines. The voluntary recall is for "Europe and other markets (outside of the US and Canada)", and includes Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen vehicles using those engines...
Daimler, parent company of German marque Mercedes-Benz, has issued a recall for more than three million diesel-powered vehicles in Europe to reduce the amount of nitrogen-oxide emissions from existing vehicles. In a statement released this week, coincidentally the same day the company revealed its new X-Class ute, Dr Dieter Zetsche, head of Mercedes-Benz Cars says: "The public debate about diesel engines is creating uncertainty – especially for our customers...
