California air quality regulators are rejecting Volkswagen’s recall plan to fix vehicles including the Beetle and Jetta that were programmed to trick government emissions tests.
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“The rejection is not a surprise”, said Rebecca Lindland, senior analyst with automotive data provider Kelley Blue Book “However, it’s unfortunate because it continues to delay getting consumers the answers and solutions they want, need and deserve”.
The state said VW’s proposed fix was “incomplete, substantially deficient and falls far short of meeting the legal requirements”.
A lone bird sits atop of the Volkswagen power plant in Wolfsburg September 22, 2015.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is also investigating VW, issued a statement saying it agreed with California regulators but was operating on a different timetable.
The Caiifornia regulator also issued a notice of violation to VW for the diesel cars in question.
CARB said VW’s recall plan lacks sufficient detail and does not adequately address questions of vehicle performance. “EPA has conveyed this to the company previously”.
“Since then, Volkswagen has had constructive discussions with CARB, including last week when we discussed a framework to remediate the TDI emissions issue”, VW said in an e-mailed statement.
VW officials have expressed optimism for winning approval of a plan soon to fix the vehicles. In the US, 500,000 cars with 2-liter diesel engines are affected, and another 80,000 bigger vehicles with 3-liter diesel engines are involved.
It expects to launch the brand new mid-sized SUV, to begin rolling out of its Chattanooga, Tennessee factory in late 2016.
“They are preparing for the conversations with EPA”, Haslam said Tuesday in a Reuters interview on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show.
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“As we continue to work tirelessly to develop an approved remedy for all affected vehicles, we would like to offer this gesture of goodwill to our valuable customers to thank them for their patience and support”, said Michael Horn, President and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America. The so-called defeat devices turn on pollution controls when the cars are undergoing testing, and off when they are back on the road, allowing them to spew out illegal amounts of toxic nitrogen oxides.
