A U.S. regulator found software in
some Audi vehicles that lowered their carbon dioxide emissions if it detected
they were being used under test conditions, Bild am Sonntag reported.
The logo of German car maker Audi is seen outside a garage in Vienna, Austria, September 29, 2016. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
The California Air Resources Board
(CARB) discovered the software in an automatic transmission Audi last summer,
the German weekly newspaper said, without citing any sources.
CARB had no immediate comment and
Audi was not immediately available for comment on Sunday's Bild am Sonntag
report.
The paper said the device, which was not the same as
the one which triggered last year's diesel emissions scandal at Audi parent
Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), was also used in diesel and gasoline-powered cars in
Europe.
VW's admission that it had installed software that
deactivated pollution controls on more than 11 million diesel vehicles sold
worldwide, triggered the deepest business crisis in the German carmaker's
history.
Audi (NSUG.DE), the main contributor to VW group
profit, has also admitted its 3.0 liter V6 diesel engine was fitted with
emissions-control software.
Bild am Sonntag said the software discovered by CARB,
which was installed in vehicles with certain automatic transmissions, detected
whether a car's steering wheel was turned.
If it was not, indicating laboratory testing
conditions, the software turned on a gear-shifting program which produced less
carbon dioxide than in normal road driving. If the wheel was turned in any
direction by more than 15 degrees, the program was switched off, the paper
said.
Audi stopped using the software in May 2016, just
before CARB discovered the manipulation in an older model, the paper said,
adding that the carmaker had suspended several engineers in connection with the
matter.
Bild am Sonntag said a spokesman for Audi had declined
to comment, citing ongoing talks with U.S. and California regulators on a
proposed fix for cars with 3.0 liter engines.
(Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Additional reporting by
Andreas Cremer and Joe White; Editing by Alexander Smith)
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