Porsche and Audi under the scanner for ‘Dieselgate’ emissions issue

The Volkswagen Group hasn’t seen the last of its ‘Dieselgate’ emissions cheating issue yet as US based Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said yesterday that group companies Porsche and Audi too used cheat devices to alter air pollution tests in their 3.0-litre V6 range of diesel luxury vehicles. 

The EPA alleges Volkswagen to have installed defeat devices in the 3.0-litre V6 diesel engines from 2013 till date to give wrong NoX emission readings. EPA says the numbers are nine times that of officially quoted numbers. SUVs like the Porsche Cayenne, Volkswagen Touareg and Audi Q5 come under the radar while on the sedans front, the entire Audi range potentially use cheat devices in the V6 diesel engines.

Volkswagen responded to the EPA's findings, saying that no software has been installed in its 3.0-litre V6 diesel engines to alter emissions characteristics in a forbidden manner. The German carmaker however had made such claims about the EA189 engine family that is now known to have used defeat devices.

It is not yet clear on how many models powered by the 3.0-litre V6 is fitted with this illegal software but as this investigation moved forward, we will see more revelations coming out. The Volkswagen Group is said to have lost 20 Billion Euros worth of market share after the emissions scandal came to light.