BERLIN, July 28 — Federal Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said here Thursday that an illegal emissions software had been detected in the 3-litre TDI diesel Cayenne and, as such, he had ordered 22,000 vehicles to be recalled across Europe.
Furthermore, he announced the withdrawal of the licensing for this particular SUV so that no new vehicles of this type would enter the market. This is the first time in the German diesel scandal that a car can no longer be newly registered.
According to Dobrindt, the technology that was detected recognizes when the vehicle is in an emission test scenario, switching to a “warm-up strategy” that was not activated in real driving situations.
The Cayenne’s diesel engine is supplied by Audi who already has to recall 24,000 vehicles because of an illegal emission software. Volkswagen announced it would investigate Dobrindt’s suspicion with respect to the VW Touareg.