The emissions scandal has hurt Volkswagen shares, leading to government probes.
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Volkswagen, a champion of German industry, has admitted that up to 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide have been fitted with the so-called defeat device.
In the immediate aftermath of the announcement Porsche denied any knowledge of the software being installed in its cars, but Tuesday evening the company announced that it would halt Cayenne sales in the USA during the investigation.
It said about 800,000 mainly diesel vehicles were affected, and put a preliminary estimate of the cost to the company of the new admission at about two billion euros ($2.2 billion).
The problem lies in the way cars with certain engines were certified to meet carbon dioxide emissions standards.
Porsche has told its USA dealers not to sell any 2014-2016 Cayenne Diesel SUVs in stock. This could cost VW €2 billion (£1.4 billion), on top of the €6.7 billion already set aside for the crisis.
“Under the ongoing review of all processes and workflows in connection with diesel engines it was established that the Carbon dioxide levels and thus the fuel consumption figures for a few models were set too low during the Carbon dioxide certification process”, the company said.
This latest discovery could see 800,000 more vehicles added to the affected list, including for the first time a few petrol models. “The only thing that counts for us is the truth”. CEO Matthias Mueller promised Tuesday that Volkswagen “will relentlessly and completely clarify what has happened”.
Yesterday, it faced new accusations of distorted emissions tests from American regulators (which it rejects); today it announced its own investigations have uncovered “irregularities” in a completely different part of the testing and approval process.
A few analysts have said the final bill could reach as much as 35 billion euros in regulatory fines, lawsuits and vehicle refits.
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Volkswagen is facing lawsuits seeking class-action status from across the country, filed by VW diesel owners seeking damages. VW says that a few 1.4-litre petrol engines may also be affected, but didn’t provide any further details.
