German auto major Volkswagen said it will recall 3.23 lakh vehicles in India after a government-ordered probe found that the company’s cars fitted with EA 189 diesel engine used a ‘defeat device’ to cheat emission tests. The recall, that will affect 323,700 cars from Volkswagen, Skoda and Audi brands, follows a meeting of company executives with officials of Department of Heavy Industries after the submission of report by the Automotive Research Association of India.
“Volkswagen Group India has presented its observations, findings and outlines of possible solutions on the EA 189 diesel engines to the Government of India — Ministry of Heavy Industries and ARAI . The recall will encompass cars from the Volkswagen, Audi and SKODA model range which carry the software that requires to be updated,” according to a statement issued by the association.
As per the company, from 2008 till end of November 2015, approximately 198,500 cars from Volkswagen, 88,700 cars from ŠKODA and 36,500 cars from Audi across various models that were sold in India have been equipped with the EA 189 engines which include 1.2-litre, 1.5-litre, 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre diesel engines. The Volkswagen Group India will first present a solution to Ministry of Heavy Industries and ARAI and necessary actions would be taken in a phased manner, according to the statement.
“The existing installed software does not affect the handling, technical safety or road worthiness of the cars.” All the owners of vehicles with EA 189 engines will be informed by Volkswagen Group India and the problem would be corrected free of cost to the customers,.
Government last month issued a notice to Volkswagen after testing agency ARAI found “significant variations” in on-road emission levels in the automaker's diesel models of Jetta, Octavia, Audi A4 and Audi A6 in India.
Volkswagen India sells Jetta model, while Octavia and Audi A4 and A6 models are retailed by Skoda and Audi, respectively.
Both Audi and Skoda brands are owned by the Volkswagen group.
