Volkswagen, which is >embroiled in a scandal over cheating emission tests , on Wednesday, asked its dealers to hold back deliveries of some units of its hatchback Polo to buyers. The Indian unit of the German car maker, however, said that the move was not linked to the ongoing scandal, but is due to ‘technical reason’.
In a letter to its dealers, the company directed them “not to physically deliver any Polo vehicle (all variants) with immediate effect till further notice.”
The move comes at a time when the company is in the middle of evaluating the impact of the scandal on Indian operations. It is working with testing agency ARAI, which has been asked by the government to probe if Volkswagen manipulated emission tests in India as it did in the U.S. and Europe.
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In a letter to its dealers, the company directed them “not to physically deliver any Polo vehicle (all variants) with immediate effect till further notice.”
“Volkswagen India has confirmed a temporary hold on deliveries of its carline Polo due to a technical reason which is currently under evaluation,” the company spokesperson said in an emailed reply.
While the spokesperson added that this concerns a limited number of cars out of a specific production period, details on number of affected units or production period could not be ascertained.
“Volkswagen further confirms that deliveries for the non-impacted Polo range continue as per schedule,” the spokesperson said, adding that the company would like to clarify that the temporary hold on deliveries is “not related to the ongoing EA 189 diesel engine topic.”
Volkswagen has already announced that globally around 11 million vehicles have been affected by the scandal which found that the company’s >EA189 engine were fitted with the software that enabled manipulation of emission tests .