Diesel Drama Fizzles as VW, Daimler, BMW Dodge Deeper Fixes

  • Agreement seen doing little to rebuild public trust in diesel
  • Carmakers stick to software patches to curb emissions

VW, Daimler, BMW Agree to Diesel Auto Upgrades

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It’s not every day that a gathering of German car bosses and government officials prompts Greenpeace to scale Berlin’s transport ministry, forcing a change of venue. But these aren’t ordinary times for an industry beset by a diesel cheating scandal that just won’t quit.

In the end, the much-anticipated face-off on Wednesday fizzled. Volkswagen AG, Daimler AG and BMW AG largely reiterated pledges to upgrade 5 million cars in Germany with software to reduce harmful emissions, a comparatively easy feat at a low cost, and dodged the more expensive and complicated task of tweaking the vehicles’ hardware.