KBA, the automotive sector supervisory authority Germany, has opened an investigation to determine if a software update on cars with a 1.2-liter engine, including the popular Polo, allowed the manufacturer to cheat with emissions tests, says Bild am Sonntag, who does not quote sources. The newspaper adds that the prosecution is preparing to accuse alleged leaders of Volkswagen, that it does not identify, noting that the group had ensured in 2016 that the 1.2-liter engines did not use software with an illegal function to distort the results of anti-pollution tests.
The builder had to recall hundreds of thousands of cars around the world since the outbreak of the scandal of Dieselgate to United States in 2015.
370,000 vehicles affected in Europe
The KBA plans to ban the circulation of 30,000 cars in Germany, although it is more likely that it orders an upgrade of their software, the newspaper continues. A total of 370,000 Volkswagen vehicles in Europe are affected and could be subject to recalls.
The German Ministry of Transport, which oversees the KBA, said its investigation was not complete.
A spokesman for Volkswagen said the internal quality controls for diesel cars equipped with a 1.2-liter engine, model EA189, had revealed irregularities that were being analyzed. He added that Volkswagen had informed the authorities and that the company was in constant contact with them.
With Reuters (Jan Schwartz, Catherine Mallebay-Vacator for French Service, edited by Nicolas Delame)