Audi, Skoda Identify Cars With 'Cheat' Software

Skoda is following a similar principle. The cars affected have the same 2.0 litre diesel engine under the nomenclature EA189. Only cars with the EA189 series of engines are said to be affected. Skoda has not named the countries in which it has identified the 1.2 million cars that will require checking, nor the models affected. It is expected that the model lines with the most exposure to the suspect software, would be the Octavia and Superb.

Cars in India being on the Euro 4 cycle are expected to stay unaffected, say our sources but a final confirmation will come from the HQ at both companies soon. Those in the know at the Czech carmaker say however that they do not foresee a very large recall of Skoda cars to be the outcome of the investigation. Audi too has said a recall will only be announced after a further thorough investigation is carried out.

Similar news is expected from the Spanish brand in the VW Group - Seat. But for now it seems that the high-end brands - Porsche, Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti - are immune to the crisis. VW had initially estimated that 11 million cars would be affected by the 'diesel deception'. It will make details known soon on any possible recall - and also the exact numbers of Volkswagen brand cars within that large number. The company has lost a third of its market cap in Germany since the diesel deception crisis first hit last week.