Fake engines: and now, Opel …

Opel, a PSA subsidiary, is subject to an investigation by the German authorities into the scandal over diesel engines, the German Ministry of Transport announced on Saturday.

"There is an official hearing against Opel on three models (diesel standard) + Euro 6+ ", told AFP a spokesman for the ministry, adding that" nothing definite "could be said before the final results of the procedure

In its forthcoming edition Sunday, the tabloid Bild, which does not quote its sources, says that the Federal Automobile Agency KBA, guardianship of the German automotive sector, holds "solid elements" according to which the system exhaust management of certain Opel diesel models are completely shut down while driving "for reasons that are not technically explainable."

According to Bild, these are Cascada models, Insignia and Z afira. In total, 60,000 vehicles would be affected worldwide, including 10,000 in Germany.

They would exceed "more than 10 times" standards of emission of nitrogen oxide, writes Bild. "Current production is not affected," the paper continues, citing internal sources at Opel.

According to Bild, the KBA informed Opel "this week" of his suspicions and gave him "two weeks" for

Opel claimed in 2016 "not to install illegal software" in its cars. "Our engines meet legal standards," said the manufacturer, says Bild.

The scandal of diesel engines fired broke in September 2015, after the US Environmental Agency (EPA) accused Volkswagen of having equipped 11 million diesel cars, including about 600,000 in the United States, with software capable of distorting the results of pollution tests and concealing emissions sometimes exceeding 40 times the permitted standards.

Since then, several German prosecutors have opened investigations for fraud, stock market manipulation or misleading advertising against employees of Volkswagen and its brands Audi and Porsche, but also of Daimler and the equipment manufacturer Bosch.

Several senior Volkswagen executives, former boss Martin Winterkorn, are the subject of various investigations for fraud, manipulation of stock market or false advertising.

In June, justice has taken into custody the boss of Audi, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, the first incarceration of a very senior official in this sprawling survey.