Due to new EU rules for cyber security in new cars, several manufacturers are removing models from their range. With the deadline of July 7th, the VW Up and the Porsche Macan will disappear.
VW’s Up small car is affected, as are the Transporter T6.1 and the Porsche combustion engines Macan, Cayman and Boxster: due to stricter EU rules for cyber security in cars, which apply from July, they will disappear from the market. And for many of them there is no direct successor.
“All Up have already been produced for the German market and delivered to retailers,” explains a VW spokeswoman. In other EU countries, however, delivery of the last vehicles will continue until the middle of the year. Then it ends there too.
Rules for campers from September 1st
Reason for the tough cut: In order to avoid the new cybersecurity rules that apply from July 7th, the cars must not only be produced and delivered by the deadline, but also registered. This means I have no leeway whatsoever, they say in Hanover. Only the camper version T6.1 California still has the last order options. Because the new rules only apply to mobile homes from September 1st.
Older models in particular, such as the Up, which has been built since 2011, or the T6.1, which is based on the T5 from 2003, are now being discontinued. This is due to the great effort that manufacturers would have to make to make the cars fit for the new regulations. “Otherwise we would have to integrate a completely new electronic architecture,” says VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer. “That would simply be too expensive.” It was therefore decided to discontinue the popular Up small car without a direct successor.
High costs for manufacturers
In fact, the effort that manufacturers have to make is enormous, says Stefan Bratzel from the Center of Automotive Management (CAM) in Bergisch Gladbach. The costs per vehicle would be in the millions. The stricter rules have been in effect for newly developed models since mid-2022; for old models there was a two-year grace period, which is now expiring. Manufacturers must then prove that there was a certified management system to ward off hack attacks when the vehicles were developed, not only at the manufacturer itself, but also at suppliers.
According to the car expert, this is difficult to do later, especially with very old models. The manufacturers would therefore rather save themselves this effort. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWN) is saying goodbye to the T6.1, Porsche is only building the combustion engine versions of the Macan, Boxster and Cayman for export.