Dusseldorf The recent past with a series of workshop recalls due to possible exhaust gas irregularities has again caught up with the Volkswagen subsidiary Porsche. The Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) in Flensburg orders a new recall, which now affects the Porsche Macan model. According to this, almost 21,000 vehicles worldwide have to go to the workshop in order to “reach the manufacturer’s specifications for CO2 values” with a software update.
There have been repeated recalls at Porsche in recent years because prohibited defeat devices in exhaust gas cleaning had to be removed. As a rule, models with diesel engines were affected. Porsche did not develop the compression-ignition units itself, but obtained them from sister company Audi. The recall now ordered by the KBA affects cars with petrol engines from Porsche.
As stated in the Flensburg Vehicle Inspectorate’s order, older Macan models are affected by the recall. Vehicles sold by Porsche between 2014 and 2018 have to go to the workshop. The software update affects both the engine and the transmission control.
Macan is the most important volume model from Porsche
According to the KBA, after the workshops had installed the new software, the cars once again met the requirements for carbon dioxide emissions. During this recall, Porsche is being monitored by the Federal Motor Transport Authority.
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The Macan is Porsche’s most important volume model, of which around 100,000 units can be produced each year. Affected customers who are traveling with a Macan with excessive CO2 values should contact the manufacturer or an authorized workshop, writes the KBA.
On request, Porsche will confirm the recall ordered by the Federal Motor Transport Authority. “These are questions of vehicle conformity for individual older models. The current production and the safety of the vehicles are not affected,” emphasized a Porsche spokesman.
Macan production in the Leipzig Porsche plant: The current production is not affected by the new recall.
(Photo: imago images/Sebastian Willnow)
The Stuttgart Volkswagen subsidiary also emphasized that “the questions are not about impermissible defeat devices”. Therefore there is no connection with the diesel affair of previous years. According to Porsche, around 7,000 vehicles are affected by the recall in Germany. The sports car manufacturer does not use the word recall, but speaks of a “field measure”. They are “part of ongoing quality care at Porsche”.
Porsche has launched internal investigations itself
The company also noted that it “proactively” approached regulators about two years ago. In the summer of 2020, Porsche initiated its own internal investigations to track down possible misconduct in vehicle registration. As it was said in corporate circles at the time, “every stone was turned over” in the development departments at the time.
Employees were summoned for interviews, hundreds of thousands of emails were examined, and in-house meeting minutes were analyzed. At that time, the main question was whether individual models had been subsequently modified after the type approval by the Federal Motor Transport Authority. At the time, Porsche had informed the KBA, the Stuttgart public prosecutor’s office and the US judiciary.
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The company itself was interested in clarifying the processes, it was said in Stuttgart at the time. After the internal investigations became known, the Federal Motor Transport Authority even suspended the type approval of completely new Porsche models for a short time. KBA experts were sent to Stuttgart to carry out additional on-site investigations.
Only US customers will be compensated
Last week, a US judge finally approved the comparison between the sports car manufacturer and American customers. The company is paying a total of at least $80 million to affected customers to settle a class action civil proceeding. The allegations concerned possible deviations in the officially declared fuel consumption and emissions.
In the negotiations with the US plaintiffs, Porsche had repeatedly emphasized that it had not legally recognized the allegations. “The agreement serves to end the issue,” emphasized the company. The comparison also only affects vehicles that were sold in the USA. Porsche owners in the United States can expect up to $1,110 in compensation.
As a Porsche spokesman said, there is no connection between the agreement in the USA and the new Macan recall in Germany. There is also no software update for the American Macan models.
More: US judge approves Porsche’s million dollar settlement