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Audi to Modify Up to 850,000 Diesel Vehicles as Carmakers Face Backlash

An Audi A8 on display last month in Barcelona, Spain.Credit...Albert Gea/Reuters

Facing a worsening public backlash over accusations they evaded rules on diesel emissions, German automakers have rushed headlong to upgrade their vehicles’ emissions systems.

On Friday, Audi followed its rivals Daimler and BMW in announcing plans to upgrade software on diesel vehicles across Europe. The three carmakers have said in recent days that they will modify a total of more than four million vehicles in an effort to fend off inquiries into possible emissions cheating.

The announcements appear to illustrate a strategy to avoid the fate of Volkswagen, the largest carmaker in Europe, which agreed to pay tens of billions of dollars in penalties and settlements in the United States for illegally manipulating diesel emissions.

Audi, the luxury car unit of Volkswagen, has been accused of installing a system designed to evade emissions in Europe, and the scandal widened last month with the arrest of a former manager in the engine development department.

Audi said on Friday that it would retrofit diesel engines with software that would lower emissions. The upgrade, which would be free for consumers and cover as many as 850,000 vehicles outside the United States and Canada, would reduce emissions beyond legal requirements, Audi said. It added that it was “convinced that this program will counteract possible bans on vehicles with diesel engines.”

A day before Audi’s announcement, BMW said it would offer to upgrade the software in more than 350,000 vehicles. The BMW chairman said the company believed “there are more intelligent options than driving restrictions,” referring to the European cities — including Munich, where BMW is based — that have considered banning or restricting diesel vehicles.

Daimler announced on Tuesday that it would modify three million Mercedes vehicles in Europe to reduce their diesel emissions. None of the companies described the moves as recalls.

European carmakers have heavily promoted the use of diesel vehicles in Europe and the United States to help meet rules on carbon dioxide emissions. But the nitrogen oxides that diesel engines emit are considered carcinogens, and can cause asthma. The cost to automotive companies of installing equipment to neutralize the fumes emitted by diesel vehicles is also increasing, making it difficult to keep the price of the cars competitive.

As German automakers face scrutiny, the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel has also been accused of coddling the powerful car companies and of ignoring signs of the problem.

The companies are trying to avoid repeating the mistakes of Volkswagen, which covered up its use of so-called defeat devices that could adjust emissions to comply with regulations when a car was being tested, but ease back in normal driving conditions.

Several Volkswagen executives have been charged in the United States, and others are under investigation on both sides of the Atlantic. Last month, the former head of thermodynamics at Audi’s engine development department was arrested in Germany. The former manager, Zaccheo Giovanni Pamio, is Italian, and therefore is not protected from extradition and could face trial in the United States.

Early this year, Audi was swept up into a German criminal investigation involving Volkswagen after the authorities accused Audi of installing a system to evade emissions rules in Europe, broadening an inquiry that had focused on the United States.

The inclusion of Audi in the investigation could weigh heavily on Volkswagen: The luxury carmaker accounts for a disproportionate share of Volkswagen’s profit.

Follow Amie Tsang on Twitter @amietsang.

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