Software updates carried out by Volkswagen (VW) could inflict
greater stress on engine components, Spiegel cited a member of
staff at the Brussels-based Commission as saying.
Commission officials are basing their concerns on feedback from
experts at the "Vela" emissions laboratory in northern Italy,
the weekly magazine said, without providing more detail.
The Commission could not immediately be reached for comment.
Germany-based VW denied its technical modifications would cause
damage to the cars.
"The software update will have no adverse influences on (fuel)
consumption or the durability of the engine and its components,"
a company spokesman said.
EU consumer affairs commissioner Vera Jourova has sought to ramp
up pressure on VW to compensate European owners of rigged diesel
vehicles and has asked the carmaker for guarantees its technical
fixes will work.
"We need VW to guarantee, in a legally binding way and without
any time limit, that the repairs will work and do not have any
negative impact," a Commission official told Reuters on Monday.
Germany's KBA motor vehicle authority has so far cleared more
than 5 million diesel cars affected by VW's emissions-test
cheating scandal for repair. Approval by the KBA is valid for
countries throughout Europe where 8.5 million cars are affected.
VW group models with 1.2-litre and 2.0-litre engines only
require a software update on pollution control systems, whereas
about 3 million 1.6-litre engines, besides the software update,
also require a mesh to be installed near the air filter.
(Reporting by Andreas Cremer. Additional reporting by Alissa de
Carbonnel.; Editing by Tina Bellon and Mark Potter)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](column_spacer.png) |
|