In the diesel scandal, the Federal Motor Transport Authority is said to have threatened for the first time with penalties in writing. This is due to a report of the "Bild am Sonntag" if the manufacturer does not prove by 26 September, how all complained vehicles can be brought into a lawful condition.
For individual V6 and V8 models with the Euro 6 emissions standard, the release for a software update is still missing today. Audi has not implemented three of the eight callback notifications so far. Within the deadline, the manufacturer should now "prove the effectiveness of measures to establish compliance," the newspaper quoted from a letter from the authority. Otherwise, an immediate penalty of 25,000 euros threatens each. If Audi ignores the decision, the type approval for the affected models will be withdrawn.
The company apparently assumes that this will not happen: "Audi has developed a software update for all affected vehicles, cooperates intensively with the authorities and has provided the required emission measurements," said a spokesman. Therefore, you see no reason for a withdrawal of the type approval. "For the last eight percent of the affected Audi vehicles in Germany, the release of the technical remedy is within reach."
Further callbacks possible
In addition, Audi could face further recalls for older diesel models with the emission standard 4 due to exhaust gas manipulation. From circles of the European commission it is said that the manufacturer partly for the problem has no software solution and in these cases a repurchase of the vehicles would be imminent. An Audi spokesman did not comment on that.
It has recently been reported that the company does not lag behind in the diesel updates. The Kraftfahrtbundesamt had arranged end of 2017 that Audi had to remove software manipulations from its diesel models, with which the vehicles on the test bench drove cleanly - on the road however the exhaust emission limits clearly exceeded.
At the same time, the Flensburg authority had stipulated that in most cases Audi would have to submit a software update for the conversion by February 2018 at the latest. In addition, the Office ordered the immediate execution. The deadlines mentioned have now expired for around one and a half years.
