Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/712794
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 17 JULY 2016 Motoring III CARB rejects VW's fix for 3.0-litre diesels THE California Air Resources Board (CARB) rejected Volk- swagen's proposed technical solution for the larger 3.0-litre V6 TDI models, some 85,000 of which the automaker planned to fix instead of buying back, Reuters reports. CARB indicated that Wolfsburg's proposal to fix approximately 16,000 Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen diesels sold in the state of California was insufficient. The affected models include the Audi A6, A7, A8, Q5, Q7, Porsche Cayenne Diesel and VW Touareg. "VW's and Audi's submissions are incomplete, substantially defi- cient and fall far short of meeting the legal requirements to return those vehicles to the claimed certified configuration," CARB wrote in a letter addressed to Volkswagen AG and Porsche. CARB also indicated it would not know until December of this year whether the proposed fix would work for all models that use the 3.0-litre TDI engine. The an- nouncement by CARB follows a report by an Italian consumer group that tested the Audi Q5 TDI model after it received a software update approved in Europe and found that nitrogen- oxide emissions had increased significantly. CARB's announcement is a setback for the automaker, which had been confident for months that the 3.0-liter TDI models sold by Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen would only require a software update. The 3.0-liter diesel issue had not been part of the settlement negotiations with U.S. regula- tors from the start of 2016; the settlement announced at the end of June only addresses the automaker's plans for 2.0-litre diesel VW models and one Audi model. A source at Volkswagen said that VW will continue talks with U.S. regulators later in July to resolve the issue. The 3.0-litre diesel situation is a separate one from the 2.0- litre diesels, even though the EPA considers them to both have a "defeat device." Volkswagen has described the issue as part of a catalyst warm-up strategy that uses software to inhibit emis- sions systems while the diesel engine is cold. "VW agrees these devices resulted in excess emissions and other instances of noncompli- ance in the affected vehicles," CARB said in a statement in February of this year, three months after publishing the initial Notice of Violation. CARB's announcement this week came as a surprise: VW had earlier indicated it expected the fix for 3.0- litre diesels to be "uncomplicated." But neither CARB, EPA nor Volkswagen are talking about a buyback plan for these 16,000 vehicles registered in California, at least not yet. The Porsche Cayenne Diesel is one of several VW Group vehicles that uses the 3.0-litre diesel engine European June car sales slow as Brexit vote cuts confidence EUROPEAN car-sales growth slowed in June as the British vote on exiting the European Union weighed on business and consumer confidence. Registrations rose 6.5 per- cent from a year earlier to 1.51 million vehicles, the weakest gain since March, as demand in the U.K., the region's second-biggest market, slid 0.8 percent. First-half sales increased 9.1 percent to 8.09 million cars, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, or ACEA, said Friday in a statement. The June 23 referendum that approved the U.K.'s depar- ture from the EU, known as Brexit, will probably hold back economic growth in countries using the euro, according to the European Central Bank, which has been keeping inter- est rates at or below zero in a stimulus drive. Prior to the vote, gauges of UK and euro- area economic confidence fell amid questions about how a pullout may affect companies and households. Most automotive shares have yet to fully recover from a global stock-market plunge that followed the ballot, while the pound is trading near a three-year low to the euro. "Drastically reduced con- sumer confidence in the U.K. following the Brexit vote will probably result in a significant hit to sales," Peter Fuss, an automotive analyst at consult- ing firm EY, said in a report. "Not least the German car- makers will see an impact in the form of lower exports to the U.K., as cars made in Germany get more expensive for British buyers because of the weak pound." June marked the 34th consecutive month of auto- sales gains in Europe. Of the five biggest national markets, growth in Germany, Italy and Spain exceeded the regional rate. The decline in the U.K. was the country's first since October. The ACEA compiles registration figures from the 28 EU countries, excluding Malta, as well as Switzerland, Norway and Iceland. Renault SA posted the strongest European sales growth last month among the region's 10 largest car sell- ers, with a 20 percent surge propelled by the main brand's Captur, Kadjar and Espace crossovers. Daimler AG ranked next with a 16 percent jump, boosted by demand for sport utility vehicles at the Mercedes-Benz luxury name- plate. BMW AG, Daimler's main competitor, also deliv- ered 16 percent more cars in the region. European sales by market leader Volkswagen AG, the German manufacturer mired in a diesel emissions-test cheat- ing scandal, rose 1 percent in June, held back by declines at the namesake VW brand and Seat and Porsche divisions and by stagnant demand at the Audi marque. Its six-month market share narrowed to 23.8 percent from 24.9 percent a year earlier, remaining at the lowest since 2011. June deliveries fell at PSA Group, the owner of the Peugeot and Citroen nameplates, as well as at Ford Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. VW to continue talks on fixing 85,000 Audi, Porsche & VW diesels, report says