Diesel recalls have stalled in the middle of an EU air quality crisis

Even the cheapest and least effective form of diesel fixes – software updates – are making very slow progress in the EU and would take another two years to be completed at the current pace. They also cover only 10 out of 43 million grossly polluting diesels cars and vans on Europe’s roads, leaving the vast majority of dirty diesels unaddressed.

Progress is not only slow but also very unequal across Member States and manufacturers, with consumers from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), in particular, being left behind: there only 55% of Volkswagen Group’s cars are updated compared to 83% in the West. Recall rates are particularly low for Opel Cascada and Zafira (12%) as well as for Audi’s A6 (30%). DUH’s latest report shows that, unlike in the US, much more effective hardware retrofits are currently not offered to European consumers.

Below, download our analysis and the European Commission’s data on recalls.