911 Carrera

Make
Porsche
Segment
Coupe

Just as the Volkswagen Group is about to put the Dieselgate scandal behind it once and for all, another investigation is has just been launched. However, a government body isn't the one initiating the investigation. Porsche is.

According to German-language weekly publication Bild am Sonntag, Porsche has told Germany's automotive watchdog body (KBA), the Stuttgart prosecutor's office, and the relevant US authorities, that it suspects illegal hardware and software changes to its gasoline engines that might affect exhaust systems and other vital engine components. "Porsche is regularly and continuously reviewing technical and regulatory aspects of its vehicles," a Porsche spokesman told the publication. "As part of such internal examinations Porsche has identified issues and has, just like in the past, proactively informed authorities."

The good news is that the issues likely affect older vehicles and it doesn't appear new models are involved. The bad news is that the engines, developed between 2008 and 2013, power the Porsche 911 and Panamera from that era. As Porsche continues conducting its own internal investigation that includes examining hundreds of thousands of employee emails, the KBA has launched an official investigation of its own.

There's no word yet what the US government's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to do, but Porsche will surely continue keeping the organization up to date with its findings. More than likely, the EPA will be making its own announcement relatively soon.

The reason why this is potentially a big deal is that those aforementioned Porsche models could have be expelling higher C02 levels than they were legally allowed. It's still way too early to know whether this investigation will reach Dieselgate-like proportions, but it's definitely not something Porsche's VW Group parent company is happy about. Not only could it bring additional scrutiny and bad PR, but also heavy fines.

In the US alone, Dieselgate cost VW more than $30 billion in fines, vehicle refits, and provisions. More details will come in as the new investigation continues.