Only 10 million of the 43 million highly-polluting diesel cars and vans that were caught in the “Dieselgate” emissions scandal have been recalled since 2015.
And although these measures only require the cheapest, least effective form of fixes – software recalls – they will not be completed for another two years, analysis of new EU data indicates.
Transport & Environment (T&E), which analysed the data, said the European Commission and EU governments need to accelerate software updates across the whole Single Market but also combine these with more effective hardware retrofits where technically feasible.
Florent Grelier, clean vehicles engineer at T&E, said, “The current snail’s pace to clean up diesel cars across Europe is unacceptable.
“The industry has had four years since the diesel scandal broke but has failed to deliver even on its own commitments to fix manipulated cars. It’s time for governments to get tough and order mandatory recalls across the EU. This does not require any new laws but just political will.”