Porsche_Targa_4s - H 2015
Michael WalkerPorsche will temporarily stop selling the diesel version of its popular Cayenne SUV, said former Porsche of North American CEO Detlev von Platen at the Los Angeles Auto Show on Wednesday.
Addressing a packed press conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center, von Platen said that, “at the moment, we are examining the allegations by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board concerning the Porsche Cayenne diesel.”
“I want to tell you Porsche takes this very seriously,” von Platen added, “and therefore Porsche has issued a temporary, voluntary stop-sale order of vehicles with the the 3 litre TDI” diesel engine. “We are fully cooperating with the EPA to clear up all the facts without any reservation.”
Von Platen made the remarks before unveiling Porsche’s latest models, including an updated version of the 911 Targa, part of a wave of revamped sports cars dating to the 1960s coming in 2016. Just prior to the Porsche press conference, Fiat introduced the new version of its classic 124 Spider to an overflow crowd.
After taking over Porsche’s North American operations in 2008, von Platen oversaw a doubling of Porsche’s U.S. sales. In September, he was named global sales and marketing chief following the elevation of Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller to CEO of Volkswagen in the wake of VW’s emissions-testing scandal.
