FRANKFURT -- The German transport ministry confirmed that the country's KBA federal motor vehicle authority is conducting an official hearing into the emissions technology used in three models of cars made by Opel.
Bild am Sonntag reported on Sunday that the KBA had found reliable evidence that exhaust gas treatment in some diesel models built by PSA Group's Opel division shuts down during driving.
"Before the outcome of this hearing, nothing conclusive can be said about the inadmissibility of the defeat device," a spokeswoman for the ministry said.
About 60,000 Cascada, Insignia and Zafira model lines equipped with the latest Euro 6 emissions standard are affected by the issue, 10,000 of which are in Germany where Opel is based, Bild am Sonntag reported.
The affected models' NOx emissions exceeded statutory limits more than tenfold, it said.
An Opel spokesman said the company had already in December 2015 "recognized the potential for improvement and started a technology initiative to raise transparency, credibility and efficiency for the benefit of customers."
