JAGUAR LAND ROVER RECALLS 44,000 CARS OVER EMISSIONS

British car maker Jaguar Land Rover has been forced to recall 44,000 cars after tests revealed they may emit “excessive” levels of carbon dioxide.

The issue was discovered by the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), which identified 10 models from across both arms of the business which emit more CO2 than declared at their initial certification.

It notified JLR, which in turn informed the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), which deals with recalls in the UK. The DVSA in turn notified the European Commission’s rapid alert system.

The European recall stated that affected cars “may emit excessive levels of CO2 and may not conform with the certified condition”.

Affected models were all built between 2016 and 2019 and fitted with the firm’s 2.0-litre petrol or 2.0-litre diesel engines.

Models affected are the Jaguar E-pace, F-pace, F-type, XE and XF and the Land Rover Discovery Sport, Discovery, Range Rover Evoque, Velar and Sport.

Land Rover says it is contacting all owners and remedial work will be carried out free of charge. This is believed to involve a software update in most cases although some could require physical changes.

In a statement, Jaguar Land Rover said: “Affected vehicles are being rectified to ensure the correct CO2 performance is dependably achieved. The modifications made to affected vehicles will be made free of charge and every effort will be made to minimise inconvenience to the customer during the short time required for the work to be carried out.”

Natalie Hitchins, Head of home products and services at consumer group Which?, said the recall once again raised questions about how far buyers could trust manufacturer’s claimed performance figures

She said: “Consumers must be able to fully trust the claims of car manufacturers, particularly after the emissions scandals of recent years.

“Jaguar Land Rover must now act quickly to tell affected customers so that they can have their vehicles modified appropriately.”

Ironically, the recall comes just a week after Land Rover was praised by independent emissions testers who found its 3.0-litre TDV6 engine was the only one tested which matched laboratory NOX emissions levels in the real world.