Volkswagen decides to recall 323,700 diesel cars in India
MUMBAI: Volkswagen Group on Tuesday announced a recall of 323,700 cars from the Indian market to upgrade all cars fitted with the EA 189 diesel engine, which is at the centre of the global emission scandal that has rocked the world’s largest car maker.
The recall will encompass cars from the Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda brands, which carry the software, and will likely be the biggest recall ever done by a car maker in India. In September Honda had announced a recall of 223,578 cars in India to replace faulty airbag inflators.
Volkswagen had admitted in September that it was using a ‘defeat device’ software to rig diesel emission tests in US and Europe.
The EA 189 engines use this software, which can manipulate emissions to meet regulatory tests.
“The observations and findings on the particular engines have been presented to the government of India and Automotive Research Association of India (Arai),” Volkswagen India said in a statement.
“Once approved from the competent authorities, the respective brands of the Volkswagen Group in India will carry out necessary actions in a step-wise manner.”
“From 2008 till November 2015, about 198,500 cars from Volkswagen, 88,700 cars from Skoda and 36,500 cars from Audi sold in India have been equipped with the EA189 engine, which includes 1.2 litre, 1.5 litre, 1.6 litre and 2.0 litre variants,” according to VW India.
“Owners of such vehicles, which have the EA 189 engine, will be informed by the respective brands and all necessary technical measures will be implemented in the vehicles at no extra cost to the customers,” the statement said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the government said that initial findings by Arai indicated that the diesel cars manufactured in India and having the EA189 engines did have the defeat device fitted.
“Based on the initial findings, there is an indication that the diesel vehicles fitted with EA189 engine and manufactured in India by Volkswagen group of companies are fitted with the defeat device.
Fitment of such a device may lead to excess nitrogen oxide emissions on road,” GM Siddeshwara, minister of state for heavy industries said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
Volkswagen has admitted that as many as 11 million diesel engine cars worldwide were fitted with the software. It faces fines of up to $18 billion in the US.