GM General Motors Company

By William Boston 

BERLIN -- The German government on Wednesday gave General Motors Co.'s Opel unit two weeks to provide information that could explain irregularities in emissions in some of its vehicles.

"We have given the Opel representatives 14 days to provide us with appropriate technical information," German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt told reporters after a meeting of government officials and Opel Chief Executive Karl-Thomas Neumann.

The government hasn't levied any official charges against Opel and doesn't suspect the company of using illegal test-recognition software.

The German government subjected 53 car models from various manufacturers to inspection in the wake of disclosure in September that Volkswagen AG rigged diesel engines on nearly 11 million cars world-wide to cheat on emissions tests.

Last month, the government presented the results of the tests and concluded Volkswagen was the only manufacturer to use so-called test-recognition software.

But the government also noted nearly all manufacturers used temperature controls to suppress emissions controls at lower temperatures.

While not illegal, it is a gray area in European emissions regulation, and the German government alleged manufacturers were making liberal use of the allowance.

The meeting between Opel representatives and a German government investigative committee Wednesday was prompted by allegations from an environmental lobby group and German media that Opel had gone a step further and was using so-called defeat devices to suppress emissions control.

Opel has repeatedly denied using illegal software.

The environmental group, German Environmental Aid, alleges Opel has calibrated emissions software in its Zafira model to become less effective when the car reaches a speed of 140 kilometers an hour (87 miles an hour) or higher elevations.

Opel insists its vehicles are fully compliant with European law.

"Our engines comply with the law," the company said in a statement after the meeting. "We at Opel do not use any illegal software."

Under European law, auto makers are allowed to use so-called defeat devices to suppress emissions control under certain conditions to protect the engine, such as in colder temperatures to limit soot emissions to protect the particulate filter in the catalytic converter.

"The investigative committee has doubts whether engine protection completely explains the procedure that is described here," Mr. Dobrindt said.

Write to William Boston at william.boston@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 18, 2016 16:14 ET (20:14 GMT)

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