Government set to issue notice to Volkswagen

Finds divergence in on road emissions

Problems for Volkswagen India is set to compound significantly with the government deciding to file a show cause notice against the German car maker for variation in on road emission levels vis a vis levels tested during approvals.

Ambuj Sharma, additional secretary in the ministry of heavy industries said the notice will be issued today. He said the Pune based Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has found divergence in emission levels of several diesel cars manufactured by the Volkswagen group in India.

Emission variations have been found in diesel models of Jetta, Audi A4 and Vento. While Jetta and Vento are Volkswagen brands, Audi is manufactured by a Volkswagen group company.

Volkswagen may have to initiate a recall process in India soon.

The world's largest car maker is in the process of recalling 11 million cars globally after it was found to violate emission norms using a cheating device.

 

Volkswagen has seen a clear impact of the controversy in the Indian market. After seven sequential months of growth, the company saw its sales decline 21 per cent in September. Matters worsened in October when it saw sales drop by about 30 per cent. October was a high growth month for most car makers in India on account of high festive demand.