Germany to de-register VW group cars failing to undergo dieselgate fix

It has been almost two years since the dieselgate scandal hit the German auto maker Volkswagen. The company had announced a giant 11-million-car recall worldwide to fix their rigged diesel engines which had been eerily programmed to identify when the vehicle was under testing and altered the power and emission figures accordingly. This had caused a worldwide outrage with VW facing class lawsuit in many countries and becoming the target of many internet, facebook and whatsapp jokes. As of now, as many as 5.5 million vehicles have been retrofitted with a software fix in Europe, including 1.8 million cars in Volkswagen’s German home market.

There have also been quite a few reports that many owners did not want their cars to be retrofitted with the new software, fearing that the dieselgate fix will make them slower and increase the fuel consumption.

According to German Focus magazine, owners of VW, Audi, Skoda and Seat models fitted with the said engines that reject the proposed fix will have their registrations revoked as early as this August, citing a letter from Germany’s KBA motor vehicle authority.

The report also says that said owners will also be forced to pay for the de-registration as well. KBA says in its letter that the affected vehicles must have their shut-off devices removed in order to restore their conformity.Volkswagen is facing its biggest legal challenge in Europe over the dieselgate scandal with a UK class action against the car maker teaming up with a similar claim in the Netherlands.

By combining the claims the law firms hope to have greater heft against the German car maker as they attempt to to win compensation from VW. VW management has already been under severe pressure with many members of the senior management and the related engineers ousted from the company and the company has also publicly apologised about the wrong doing and has promised to correct itself and make the necessary changes to make their vehicles meet the emission norms as advertised.

In India, the models affected by the scandal include VW Jetta, VW Passat, VW Polo, VW Vento and the models sold by its sister concern Skoda including the Fabia, Rapid, Laura, Superb and Yeti.

[Source: Carscoops]