Automotive News: Daimler to Modify 3 Million Mercedes Cars Over Diesel Concerns, With New Takata Air Bag Recalls Automakers May Face More Liabilities, Audi halts petrol A4 and A5 sales in Europe
Daimler to Modify 3 Million Mercedes Cars Over Diesel Concerns
Daimler, the German automaker, said on Tuesday that it would update three million Mercedes cars in Europe to reduce their diesel emissions, an apparent effort to combat a widening inquiry and a public backlash over allegations that it evaded rules controlling vehicle pollutants.
The move, which Daimler declined to call a recall, is being made as the company faces investigations on both sides of the Atlantic over the diesel deception accusations. read more »
With New Takata Air Bag Recalls, Automakers May Face More Liabilities
Takata Corp's bankruptcy filing last month was meant to draw a line under the auto industry's biggest safety recall, but last week's announcement of more air bag inflator recalls suggests automakers could face fresh liabilities in the future.
In late-2015, U.S. regulators gave Takata until the end of 2019 to prove that its replacement air bag inflators - which add a drying agent to combat moisture that can set off the ammonium nitrate compound in an inflator, with potentially lethal results - are also safe.
If Takata fails that test - and some industry consultants, explosives experts and former employees question whether the workaround guarantees safety over the long-term - the 100 million or so replacement inflators currently being installed may themselves need to be replaced.
Audi halts petrol A4 and A5 sales in Europe
Embattled German car-maker forced to stop selling volume-selling models including S4 and S5
Audi has been slapped with a Europe-wide stop-sale order on all of its petrol-powered A4 and A5 vehicles, including its high-profile S4 and S5 performance models.
The premium car maker denies it is in a crisis even though it could be forced to stop selling its volume-selling mid-size models for up to two months.
The move leaves Audi in the unenviable position of being unable to legally deliver a petrol-powered model to A4 and A5 buyers exactly when a buyer backlash against diesel engines seemingly gathers steam across Europe.
Software changes to both the 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 in the S4 and S5 pulled them both out of compliance because their fuel consumption went above the officially quoted figures. read more »
UK Government Aims To Stop New Petrol And Diesel Cars By 2040
Petrol and diesel cars could stop being sold in Britain by 2040 thanks to a pledge the Government is committing to.
UK Government officials are targeting the end of production of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040. Such a plan has been proposed to adhere to targets the Government have committed to under the Paris climate accord to reduce its carbon emissions to zero by 2050.
In a written statement, the parliamentary under-secretary at the Department for Transport, Jesse Norman MP, confirmed that the current Government would stick to a pre-election pledge that aligns with the Paris Agreement.
Norman states: “This Government has a manifesto commitment for almost all cars and vans on our roads to be zero emission by 2050.
“We believe this would necessitate all new cars and vans being zero emission vehicles by 2040.”
The plans are similar though not quite as bold as a pledge made by the French government earlier this year to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2040. read more »
