WASHINGTON -- The American arms of Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen have halted sales of 3.0-liter diesel vehicles that the EPA on Monday said contain illegal software to manipulate emissions.
The move puts sales of all new Volkswagen Group diesel vehicles on hold in the U.S. market (See chart). VW and Audi models powered by the group’s 2.0-liter diesel have been grounded since late September after the EPA announced the engines contained illegal software to cheat on emissions tests.
The latest sales halt and EPA charges reflect a widening of VW’s emissions scandal that threatens to impact the VW Group’s illustrious Porsche and Audi brands to a greater degree than seen thus far.
The EPA said Monday that a second emissions “defeat device” was found, this time on the 2015 Porsche Cayenne, 2014 VW Touareg, 2016 Audi A6 Quattro, A7 Quattro, A8, A8L, and Q5 models powered by the VW Group’s 3.0-liter diesel engine, which was developed by Audi.
Volkswagen AG has denied the EPA’s charges about the 3.0-liter engines, and says it will fully cooperate to resolve the issue. But the charges prompted Audi, VW and Porsche to stop sales of all new models with 3.0-liter TDI engines.
Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche have ordered a halt to U.S. sales of models powered by the group's 3.0-liter V-6 diesel engine. Combined with the VW and Audi models powered by the 2.0-liter diesel grounded in September, the company's V-6 TDI suspension has stopped sales of all new diesel models offered by the VW Group, and several model years of certified pre-owned diesels in dealer inventory.
Here's a breakdown of the new and used diesel-powered models covered by the stop sales. Gasoline versions of the models below are still on sale.
New diesels:
Volkswagen
- 2015 Jetta, Golf, Golf SportWagen, Passat, Beetle, Touareg
- 2016 Touareg
Audi
- 2015 A3, Q7
- 2015-2016 A6, A7, A8L, Q5
Porsche
- 2014-2016 Cayenne
Certified pre-owned diesels:
Volkswagen:
- 2009-2015 Jetta
- 2009-2014 Jetta SportWagen
- 2010-2015 Golf
- 2015 Golf Sportwagen
- 2012-2015 Beetle and Beetle Convertible
- 2012-2015 Passat
- 2014-2015 Touareg
Audi
- 2010-2015 A3
- 2013 Q7
- 2014 A8
- 2014-2015 A6, A7, A8L, Q5, Q7
- 2016 A6, A7, A8L, Q5
Porsche
- 2014-2016 Cayenne
The stop-sale orders by the three brands, issued since late Tuesday, also ground several years’ worth of certified pre-owned diesel models from VW, Audi and Porsche. In addition, the freeze affects diesel nameplates and vehicles from model years that weren’t identified in the EPA’s violation notice Monday, but which use the same version of the 3.0-liter diesel engine alleged to have the illegal software, including the Audi Q7 crossover.
