Diesel Battle Moves to German Court as Porsche Recalls Cayenne
Germany Orders Mandatory Recall of Porsche Cayenne Over Software
(Bloomberg) -- The fight over diesels in Germany moved to a court in Mercedes-Benz’s hometown, one day after the government ordered Porsche to pull thousands of Cayenne sport-utility vehicles off the road.
A Stuttgart court will rule on Friday on a complaint that seeks to force the city to ban all diesel cars in an effort to lower air pollution. Automakers, the federal government and some German states are seeking to avoid such bans by instead pursuing recalls to improve emissions as the diesel-cheating scandal that erupted two years ago at Volkswagen AG continues to engulf the industry.
On Thursday, German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt took a hard-line stance against Porsche, accusing the sports-car maker of using a defeat device in the Cayenne and forcing the VW unit to recall 22,000 of the SUVs sold in Europe -- of which about 7,500 cars are in Germany -- with 3-liter diesel engines. Porsche, which is also based in Stuttgart, said it was taking “full responsibility” and cooperating closely with authorities.
Germany’s diesel crisis has ballooned in the last two weeks. Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz on July 18 announced plans to voluntarily recall 3 million diesel vehicles in Europe to upgrade their technology, while VW’s Audi brand said three days later it will service 850,000 cars. On Thursday, VW said it would expand a recall to about 4 million cars to upgrade the engine software. VW and Daimler are also caught up in another scandal with BMW AG over allegations that they colluded on technology for decades. BMW vehemently denies cheating on diesel technology.
Under Pressure
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government, which has thus far eschewed following the lead of the U.K. and France in setting out timetables for ending the use of combustion engines in cars, is also under pressure to show it’s taking action. Dobrindt has called an emergency summit for next Wednesday in Berlin of industry executives and government officials to discuss their options.
With a federal election just two months away, two ministers in Merkel’s government from the Social Democrats, her junior coalition partner, have urged Dobrindt this week to take a harder stance against the industry. Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks said on Thursday that the government has too cozy of a relationship with automakers, while Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries on Friday said the sector’s reputation is at stake.
“Car manufacturers must restore lost consumer confidence and contribute to improving air quality,” Zypries told German newspaper Rheinische Post. Dobrindt “has to make this clear on behalf of the federal government and have carmakers take responsibility.”
Dobrindt on Thursday warned that there may be more to come, saying there’s a “high probability” that the VW brand’s Touareg SUV using a 3-liter diesel engine has similar software installed.
Lashing Out
The Porsche recall affects cars with 3-liter TDI V6 diesel engines, which were developed by sister brand Audi. The motors were at the center of Audi’s own emission woes in the U.S. Porsche’s works council head Uwe Hueck in a recent media interview lashed out at Audi’s management over supplying a rigged engine and called for the marque’s top executives to be suspended.
Porsche’s Cayenne is one of the carmaker’s most popular models. While the company is best-known for its 911 sports car, bigger four-door vehicles like the Cayenne or the smaller Macan, as well as the Panamera sedan, have become critical parts of its line-up.
While Porsche said that it had pro-actively informed authorities of engine irregularities and vowed to bear “full responsibility toward the customer,” Dobrindt said that “there is no explanation for why this software is in these vehicles.”
--With assistance from Christoph Rauwald
To contact the reporters on this story: Birgit Jennen in Berlin at bjennen1@bloomberg.net, Rainer Buergin in Berlin at rbuergin1@bloomberg.net, Elisabeth Behrmann in Munich at ebehrmann1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Chris Reiter at creiter2@bloomberg.net, Benedikt Kammel