Opel in the exhaust gas scandal: Federal Motor Transport Authority suspects Opel – manager magazin

07/16/2018

Kraftfahrtbundesamt KBA also determined Opel under suspicion of the exhaust gas manipulation

Opel

Opel Zafira: The diesel variant has been found according to KBA hints that point to exhaust gas manipulation

In the diesel scandal involving manipulations in the purification of exhaust gases, Opel is moving more into the focus of the authorities. The car manufacturer has to comment on the functioning of a defeat device in different models within the next few days. Affected are a report of “Bild am Sonntag” According to about 60 000 Insignia, Zafira and Cascada. The Federal Ministry of Transport confirmed “an official hearing against Opel” because of three vehicle models.

“Before the outcome of this hearing can be said to the inadmissibility of the Abschalteinrichtung nothing conclusive,” a ministry spokesman had said on Friday evening. Shutdown devices are used to control the emission control down.

Car manufacturers justify this with the engine protection in cold or hot weather. For many models, however, there is doubt as to whether this is really necessary. If the exhaust gas cleaning does not work properly, the diesels emit more harmful nitrogen oxides. Since the air limits are exceeded in many cities, driving restrictions for diesel cars. In Hamburg there are already restrictions, in Stuttgart they should come from 2019.

The Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA) has told the report of the “Bild am Sonntag” Opel in recent days to an opinion within two weeks. An Opel spokesman did not want to comment.

The company said on Friday evening only with: “Opel is no decision from the KBA before open proceedings, which began more than two years ago, we can not comment.”

Essentially, the process addresses the question of how effective exhaust gas cleaning is for certain vehicles, in which areas it is fully used and whether it is permissible. For vehicles with conspicuous emission values, the KBA had ordered improvements in 2016.

A total of 630,000 cars of various manufacturers were affected, 90,000 of them by Opel. According to the company, these are vehicles of the Zafira Tourer, Insignia and Cascada models, which were produced until the summer of 2016.

The voluntary conversion is still running. A number of meanwhile retrofitted vehicles called Opel not. The new flue gas cleaning software, which has been in use since the summer of 2016, is significantly more effective and significantly reduces emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), the spokesman said.

So far, Opel had in the diesel scandal – unlike other German carmaker – neither with investigations of the judiciary nor with a mandatory recall to do. The Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office had closed preliminary investigations over a year ago.

VW had acknowledged in September 2015 to have manipulated emissions tests on millions of diesel cars. The group then plunged into a serious crisis. Meanwhile, many German automakers are involved in the exhaust scandal, there are investigations and countless lawsuits. The Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt has ordered mass recalls.

la / reuters

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