MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The German Audi AG car manufacturer has already fixed 1.4 million diesel vehicles, which means that the company has yet to update the remaining 1 million cars affected in the so-called "diesel scandal" connected with the use of devices manipulating data about emissions from diesel vehicles, the company’s spokesperson told Sputnik Wednesday.
"For the EA189 [engine with 4 cylinders] topic, 1.4 million Audi cars [out of 2.4 million affected] have been updated so far [outside the United States and Canada]," the spokesperson said.
The representative noted that the company was also in close consultation with the relevant authorities regarding the announced retrofit program for up to 850,000 cars, equipped with six- and eight-cylinder diesel motors, so that they could meet the Euro 5 and Euro 6 emissions criteria.
"Final approval has to be granted by Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority [KBA]. This program will consist of voluntary measures, including some that have already been communicated to the authorities and which were considered in their decisions," the spokesperson said.
In September 2015, the Volkswagen Group, which owns 19 car brands, including Audi and Mercedes-Benz, faced a public emissions scandal when the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accused the automaker of using specific software to falsify emission test results for its diesel-engine cars.
In late August, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany was working on the rehabilitation of the diesel cars' reputation tainted by the scandal as well as trying to prevent bans on diesel cars.
