Ambuj Sharma, Additional Secretary, Heavy Industries Ministry said, “Testing agency Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has found a significant variation in the emission level in on-road vehicles of three Volkswagen models when compared to laboratory measurements”.
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Volkswagen shares are falling after the company said it had understated carbon dioxide emissions for 800,000 cars, adding to the downbeat news from its scandal over cheating on US diesel emissions tests.
Significant variations in emission levels have been found in diesel models of Jetta, Audi A4 and Vento. Volkswagen has been given 15-21 days to reply to the notice.
“The discrepancies are significant enough to call for an explanation by VW and based on their response and technical inputs, we would decide a further course of action”, Sharma said.
“It was agreed with the government that Volkswagen Group India will present its results from the evaluations regarding the diesel engine emissions topic by the end of November 2015”, the company said in a statement. The vehicles that have been found to be in violation are those that are strapped with the 2-litre diesel engine which is a derivative of the EA 189 engine series where the cheat code was being used globally.
A few models of the Volkswagen group brands such as VW, Audi and Skoda have been found to be emitting nitrogen oxide in excess of five to nine times than what was arrived at in laboratory measurements, prompting the central government to issue a showcause notice to the German auto major.
On-road tests showed the levels for three models varied from those provided by the company.
Volkswagen Group India in a statement confirmed that it had received a notice from ARAI and would respond to it by 30 November. Now, we expect that the company will soon issue a recall notice for Indian buyers as well.
Volkswagen cars sold in the United States were built to meet Euro VI norms, which are also followed in the countries that have come forward to initiate a probe against the automaker.
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The findings are a part of the report submitted to the heavy industries ministry by apex testing agency ARAI. Volkswagen could face fines or recall if the company is found guilty of violating the emission norms.
