Swiss stop registering Porsche diesel SUV's

Geneva - Switzerland said on Friday that it will no longer register Porsche's luxury SUV, the Cayenne, with diesel engines citing the fallout from the emissions scandal that has rocked neighbouring Germany's car industry.

Previously registered Cayennes can stay on Swiss roads, but no newly purchased vehicles with diesel engines will be cleared to drive, the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) said in a statement, citing the need "to protect the environment".

Germany's transport ministry last month announced that "illegal" software disguising the true level of polluting emissions had been discovered in Porsche's Cayenne and Macan models with diesel engines, which needed to be fixed.

A total of 22 000 vehicles were recalled, widening the scandal over emissions test cheating that has plagued parent-company Volkswagen for two years.

Volkswagen, the world's largest car maker, has admitted to using so-called "defeat device" software to cheat regulatory nitrogen oxides emissions tests.

The devices allowed the cars to spew up to 40 times the permissible limits of polluting nitrogen oxide during normal driving, but this was hidden during emissions testing.