Porsche has issued a “stop sale” on vehicles equipped with its Sport Chrono package. The stop sale involves older cars built between 2012 and 2016, including certain 911, Boxster, Cayman, Cayenne, and Panamera models.
The automaker said it found that some cars equipped with the Sport Chrono package emitted more nitrogen oxide than permitted when driven in "Sport Plus" mode, rendering them illegal to be sold in the U.S.
A spokesperson for the automaker told Business Insider that it’s working on a software fix and "testing every model derivative" to figure out which of the models are affected.
“Not every model line we've tested is affected," the spokesperson said. "So, it really goes down to us testing every model derivative. We're being cautious."
Not a safety issue
The cars affected “were developed and sold years ago,” the spokesperson said, adding that Porsche's current model line isn’t affected by the issue.
"To be clear, our dealer partners are buying all used Porsche cars as they usually would, and the cars in customers' possession remains safe to drive — what the dealers have paused is selling the specific cars in their inventory affected by this until the software on these cars can be updated."
At this time, the automaker isn’t sure when it will resume selling cars equipped with the Sport Chrono package. The company said it will apply a software update to the affected vehicles once it’s able to hone in on the issue. Eventually, Porsche plans to issue a fix for customers’ vehicles as necessary. The company stressed that the issue doesn’t pose a safety risk for current owners.