Porsche Launches Internal Emissions Cheating Investigation For 911 And Panamera Engines

Nearly four years since VW’s Dieselgate fiasco first rocked the car industry, we have yet another instance of apparent emissions fiddling. The latest in a long line of similar cases concerns VW Group subsidiary Porsche, which has already been fined £459 million for its part in the original scandal.

Now, though, the engines concerned are of the petrol variety. According to a report in German publication Bild am Sonntag - which has since been confirmed by Porsche - Stuttgart has opened an internal investigation into possible hardware and software changes aimed at manipulating emissions test results.

The company has also reported itself to Germany’s KBA (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt/Federal Motor Transport Authority), which will launch its own investigation.

This doesn’t apply to any current models, Porsche says, with the investigation focusing on Panameras and 911s built from 2008 to 2013. In a statement, the company said:

“Porsche is routinely and continuously reviewing technical and regulatory aspects of its vehicles. The company also conducts reviews of potential issues. This is an expression of a functioning system of internal control measures and our corporate culture.

In such reviews, Porsche has identified topics that it has now – as in other instances – pro-actively brought to the attention of the regulators. These topics mainly relate to specific hardware and software used in certification testing. In certain cases, such components may also have differed from parts used in series vehicles. Based on our current investigative results, these topics only relate to vehicles that were developed years ago.

There is no evidence that vehicles from current production are affected. Porsche is continuing its review and is coordinating closely with authorities.”