 "Diesel cars loiter in lots as VW dealers, owners sit and wait")
The global chain of recalls by Volkswagen reached India on Tuesday with the company deciding to recall 323,700 vehicles after a government-ordered probe found the German car maker guilty of violating emission norms.
This is the biggest vehicle recall in India, beating the previous record of 223,578 by Honda Cars India announced this September. In addition to 198,500 cars from the Volkswagen brand, 88,700 cars from Skoda and 36,500 cars from Audi will be part of the recall.
“All owners of vehicles with EA 189 engines will be informed by Volkswagen Group India through the respective brands about the technical measures that will be implemented in their cars. All necessary technical measures will be implemented in the vehicles at no cost to customers,” a statement from Volkswagen said on Tuesday.
A meeting was held on Tuesday between representatives of Volkswagen and officials from the department of heavy industries. The deadline issued to Volkswagen for submitting its report on the steps it was taking in this direction expired on November 30.
The Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) found diesel cars manufactured in India by Volkswagen from the EA189 engine family to be fitted with the “defeat device”, which led to excess emission of nitrogen oxide.
The 11 cars tested earlier by the ARAI, which included the Jetta, Vento, Octavia, Audi A4 and A6, were found to be emitting up to nine times more Nox than levels tested during the approval stage. The recalled vehicles have 1.2, 1.5, 1.6 and 2 litre diesel engines.
“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. The existing installed software does not affect the handling, technical safety or roadworthiness of the cars,” added the Volkswagen statement.
At the moment, India has no specific norms for measuring on road mass emissions from cars. The possible violation is with respect to fitment of the defeat device that senses the vehicle is being tested on the mandatory driving cycle and adjusts the performance of the after-treatment device accordingly to meet the regulatory emission test cycle in the laboratory. This information was provided by Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises GM Siddeshwara in the Lok Sabha today in a written reply.
Speaking to Business Standard Ambuj Sharma, additional secretary in the department of heavy industry, said, “On the issue of penalty and new car sales, we are making a reference to the ministry of road transport and highways as it comes in their domain.” Sharma had indicated earlier there could be penalties levied on Volkswagen for the irregularities.
Volkswagen’s sales in November declined over 49 per cent, the third consecutive month of declines since the issue came to light. The company is estimated to have sold 1,900 vehicles in the domestic market last month.
Volkswagen has admitted that 11 million diesel engine cars worldwide were fitted with the software that helped in manipulating emission tests. It faces a fine of up to $18 billion in the US.
