Photo: Stefan Baldauf / Guido ten Brink
After agreeing to pay a record 800 million EUR ($926 million) fine for its involvement in the Dieselgate scandal, German automaker Audi is finally beginning to address the actual issue which caused it such a hard time.
Starting Wednesday, November 14, Audi will begin the mandatory recall of around 151,000 diesel-engined vehicles that were sold in Germany. It will do so in eight stages, the first comprising 31,200 cars.
As per Audi, the first vehicles to get recalled starting tomorrow are A6 and A7 Sportback models, powered by the 3.0 TDI engine that develops 268 horsepower. All were manufactured between 2015 and 2018 and are fitted with a software module, also known as defeat device, that helped the cars cheat emissions’ tests.
The fix, which is free of charge for customers and has been imposed by the Federal Office for Motor Traffic (KBA), simply consists in the removal of the said software. Audi promises this extraction will not affect “fuel consumption, CO2emission figures, engine output, maximum torque, noise emissions or the durability of the engine.”
“Our commitment is and remains to deal with the diesel crisis consistently and fully,” said in a statement Bernd Martens, Audi’s man in charge with IT and head of the task force created to deal with the Dieselgate scandal.
“After detailed technical analyses we can now offer specific solutions to fully meet the technical requirements of the Federal Office for Motor Traffic.”
Aside for the huge fine which the Munich public prosecutor ordered Audi to pay, the carmaker has also lost its head as a result of the scandal.
The veteran CEO of the company, Rupert Stadler, was arrested in June, becoming the first high-ranking Volkswagen Group executive to be charged in Europe as part of the investigation. He was released from jail at the beginning of this month but was sacked in the meantime by the auto group.
As per Audi, the first vehicles to get recalled starting tomorrow are A6 and A7 Sportback models, powered by the 3.0 TDI engine that develops 268 horsepower. All were manufactured between 2015 and 2018 and are fitted with a software module, also known as defeat device, that helped the cars cheat emissions’ tests.
The fix, which is free of charge for customers and has been imposed by the Federal Office for Motor Traffic (KBA), simply consists in the removal of the said software. Audi promises this extraction will not affect “fuel consumption, CO2emission figures, engine output, maximum torque, noise emissions or the durability of the engine.”
“Our commitment is and remains to deal with the diesel crisis consistently and fully,” said in a statement Bernd Martens, Audi’s man in charge with IT and head of the task force created to deal with the Dieselgate scandal.
“After detailed technical analyses we can now offer specific solutions to fully meet the technical requirements of the Federal Office for Motor Traffic.”
Aside for the huge fine which the Munich public prosecutor ordered Audi to pay, the carmaker has also lost its head as a result of the scandal.
The veteran CEO of the company, Rupert Stadler, was arrested in June, becoming the first high-ranking Volkswagen Group executive to be charged in Europe as part of the investigation. He was released from jail at the beginning of this month but was sacked in the meantime by the auto group.
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