Audi announced that it has completed the internal technical analyses of its V6 and V8 TDI engines. According to the report, no findings were found after the company also examined and cleared the current models with third-generation V6 TDI engines of any infringement, which included the A8, A7 Sportback, A6, A6 Avant and the new Q8. Audi has passed on its findings to the German Federal Motor Vehicle Transport Authority (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt, KBA) as the responsible authority. The details will be discussed over the coming weeks.
“For me, our focus is unquestionably on our customers,” said Abraham Schot, interim CEO and AUDI AG Board of Management Member for Sales and Marketing. “We have made substantial progress in the technical investigation. Now that the extensive detailed work has been done, the facts are on the table. That was our ambition because we have ultimately unsettled and disappointed many of our customers through the diesel crisis,” he added.
The extensive investigations looked at all V6 and V8 TDI engines, which Audi uses in mid-range and full-size models. This equates to around six million cars to Euro 5 and Euro 6 standard built since 2008 and delivered to customers in Europe and other markets (except the United States and Canada).
“The investigations were more complex than expected,” stated Audi Head of Purchasing Bernd Martens, who is leading the internal task force to address the diesel crisis.“For every single diesel engine, we had to delve deep into the software codes in order to examine even peripheral areas of the driving profile. A genuine feat that our developers accomplished on top of their core task of working on new Audi models. To conduct this exhaustive analysis, our engine development colleagues combed through more than 750,000 pages of documentation,” Martens added.
So far, the KBA has issued Audi with seven notices for mandatory software updates in connection with the diesel crisis. These apply to a total of around 240,000 vehicles worldwide. As agreed at the Diesel Summit in August 2017, Audi is offering a voluntary software update for 370,000 vehicles with V TDI engines in Germany to improve emissions in real road traffic conditions. The retrofit program is always free of charge for Audi customers and will have no adverse effect on fuel consumption, CO2 emissions, engine output, peak torque or noise emissions, nor on the durability of the engine and exhaust-gas after treatment system.
The United States and Canada are not affected by the findings of the internal Audi investigations. In four out of five cases, the measures for the engine generations in use have already received clearance from the responsible regulatory authorities. Some two-thirds of those automobiles have already been dealt with.
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