“Federal Motor Transport Authority sugarcoated investigation reports”

Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) “sugarcoated” reports on the emissions scandal investigation, bowing to pressure from the auto industry, writes Hanno Kautz in an article for Bild. In the original version of the report from 2016, KBA wrote of a “defeat device, according to regulation” in Porsche’s Macan, and then changed the wording after the car company intervened, writes Kautz. The final report read: “According to regulation, this can be seen as a modification of the emissions performance of the exhaust system.” An exchange between the authority and the manufacturer on technical questions was “standard and necessary international” procedure, the transport ministry (BMVi) told Bild.
In a separate interview with Bild, transport minister Alexander Dobrindt said the car industry had “the cursed responsibility to re-establish trust” and that the reputation of “Automobile Made in Germany” was in danger.

Read the article in German here, and the Dobrindt interview (behind paywall) in German here.

For background, read the CLEW factsheet Why the German diesel summit matters for climate and energy, and the interview “Diesel summit comes two years too late”.