Audi Still Under Threat of New Dieselgate Fines
Dieselgate never dies. Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt) has informed Audi that it will be subjected to additional fines if it fails to meet upcoming deadlines for retrofitting manipulated diesel models with updated software.
Reports from Bild am Sonntag, later confirmed by Reuters, claim the regulatory authority issued three letters to the automaker stipulating that it had until September 26th to replace the software in emissions-cheating V6 and V8 TDI engines (originally certified as EU6 compliant) lest it be fined 25,000 euros (about $27,500) per vehicle. While fines are only applicable to cars still carrying illicit software, the transport ministry estimated some 127,000 Audi vehicles qualified in Europe last year. There were originally around 850,000.
Retrofitting includes little more than updating software code on the affected Audi models and removing any lines that allowed vehicles to emit significantly higher emissions on-road than during testing conditions — thus restoring their legality. Vehicles that are not fixed by the September deadline may never receive approval, Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt has warned. Germany is also considering forcing Audi to buy back older EU4 diesel models, though no official decision has yet been made. However, those models may need substantially more work than a simple software update.
Audi has stated it’s already made quite a bit of headway with the retrofitting of EU6 models and should be able to adhere to the deadline set by the German transport ministry. It asked that Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt not withdraw approvals on vehicles still requiring a fix.
[Image: Audi]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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Would someone explain why these cars have not been "retrofitted"? Are owners refusing to do software flashes or are they still unaware of the problem? Are folks unable to register the vehicles if they have not been retrofitted? No angry eco-soldier tone here, just curious how the whole retrofit process works and how the vehicles are made illegal or legal.
Is there any confirmation that the new software is actually compliant? It seems like the Occam's razor explanation for what we've seen in the last few years is that diesel engines just can't meet Euro 5 and later standards in real-world use, and that all reported compliance with those standards is fraudulent.