The automakers lag behind their own schedule for software updates for compromised diesel cars. Diesel customers are threatened with significant delays in the conversion. By the end of the year, 5.3 million vehicles were to be converted after commitments by German manufacturers - but so far there are only 3.75 million, as the Ministry of Transport now announced.
The manufacturers "run the risk of breaking their promise." I urge that they run off the remaining vehicles as soon as possible, otherwise they lose their confidence again, "said Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU).
Affected by the measures were around 3.8 million cars from Volkswagen, over 900,000 from Daimler and more than 300,000 cars from BMW as well as cars from Opel and other manufacturers. The software updates are designed to reduce pollutant emissions and improve air quality. In many places, limit values for nitrogen dioxide are exceeded, so courts have ordered driving bans in several cities.
Manufacturers have not yet delivered documents to the KBA
At the diesel summit of the Grand Coalition in October, hardware solutions using a so-called SCR catalytic converter were also offered as an alternative solution. In the SCR system urea solution is injected to neutralize the poisonous nitric oxide. In the absence of approved solutions, diesel owners can hope for a hardware upgrade, but at the earliest in 2020. Therefore, many customers rely on the software variant, but now have to wait longer than planned.
According to the ministry, it is important that manufacturers do not yet provide technical documentation to the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) for their applications for release of the software update. It is expected that this will happen for all applications as soon as possible, they said.
The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) sees the reason for the delay not only among its members. "Above all, it is important that the customers also come to the workshops, because it is a voluntary action," said a VDA spokesman. The effort for software updates was also significant, because it was about the development, testing and release of hundreds of software variants.