Unfixed ‘dieselgate’ VWs to be de-registered

German owners who refuse to have their ‘dieselgate’ affected Volkswagens recalled will soon have their vehicles de-registered.

Reuters reports that Germany’s motor vehicle regulatory body, the KBA, can utilise its power to revoke the registrations because the culprit vehicles will still be emitting more nitrous oxide (NOx) than was originally declared.

The KBA can technically enforce the action because the dieselgate action is considered a compulsory safety recall in Germany, rather than a ‘service action’. For that reason, de-registrations are highly unlikely to occur in Australia.

The action comes as one-third of affected Volkswagens in Germany persist without the software fix, which applies to certain diesel models affected by the emissions scandal, namely those fitted with EA189 diesel engines.

In Australia, almost 80,000 vehicles have been recalled so far comprising 2.0-litre diesel variants of the Volkswagen Golf, Passat, Jetta, Tiguan, Amarok and Caddy models, and 2.0-litre diesel Skoda Superb, Octavia and Yeti models. Audi has also announced a separate recall campaign.

The fix involves changes to the software that manages the vehicle’s engine and, in some vehicles, involves a minor hardware fix. The entire process is said to take less than one hour and is free of charge to customers.