Porsche Cayenne and Macan S Diesel Sales BAN in Germany over emissions cheat

The Porsche Cayenne and Macan with the Audi-sourced V6 diesel engine have been banned from sale in Germany over emissions cheating software.

The blows for VW over defeat devices fitted to their cars is now reaching the Premium end of the group, with Audi recalling 850,000 cars and Porsche dragged in with a ban on sales of diesel models of the Cayenne and Macan.

Germany’s KBA has issued a sales ban on the Cayenne and Macan fitted with the V6 Audi diesel, and the KBA is also implementing a compulsory recall of the Porsches.

German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said he is withdrawing certification for the models equipped with the 3.0 litre V6 – basically the Cayenne and Macan S – after finding illegal emissions controlling software on the cars.

Porsche now has to recall and fix the cars – at the company’s expense – before certification will be re-instated.

It seems the defeat device software on the Porsches can detect when the car is in a test situation (because the wheels don’t turn) and instigates a mode which drastically reduces the levels of emissions. Turn the wheel and the emissions jump.

There are around 22,000 Cayenne V6 diesels in Europe, and all will be recalled to remove the software. We don’t yet have figures for how many Macan S models are affected, or specific figures for the UK.

But it does seem Porsche has been knobbled by Audi, with the rogue V6 diesel an Audi-sourced engine. But this mess won’t do Audi or Porsche’s reputations any good.