In a press release issued here on Thursday, the company has sought to “clarify its position, the outcome and the way forward on the EA 189 diesel engine topic” after its meetings with the Government and ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India).
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The company said the recall will encompass cars from the Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda model range which carry the software that requires to be “updated”.
“Volkswagen is working tirelessly on an approved remedy”, said Mark McNabb, the chief operating officer of Volkswagen of America. All the concerned customers will be informed about the technical measures to be implemented in their cars by the respective brands.
The Volkswagen Group has announced a recall for approximately 3,23,700 cars in India.
Volkswagen said in a statement that it would present a solution to the ministry and ARAI for approval, and carry out the recall in phases.
Volkswagen is giving its German workers almost a month off over Christmas and the New Year in the wake of an emissions scandal that has hurt sales and staff morale.
Volkswagen on Monday had announced recall of 3.23 lakh cars which were manufactured between 2008 and 2015.
The company said that it will start the recall from the first quarter of 2016 and the process will be continued in a step-wise manner.
The scandal was first revealed when Volkswagen admitted to its misdoings on September 18, after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) pulled it up after detailed investigations.
Both Audi and Skoda brands are owned by the Volkswagen group. The Volkswagen Beetle is the second-best selling auto in world history.
Volkswagen’s independently owned local franchise is waiting for confirmation that remedial measures proposed in Europe for diesel vehicles fitted with emission-cheating software will not reduce their performance or fuel efficiency.
The company had to respond to the notice issued by the ARAI by the end of November. It fitted as many as 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide with software that was created to cheat nitrogen oxide emission tests.
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They include a half-hour software upgrade for 2-litre models such as Tiguan SUVs – of which New Zealand has 2222 affected by the scandal – and the fitting of a mesh “flow transformer” to 1.6-litre vehicles including Golfs and Polos. While these two engines have a technical solution, a solution for the 3-cylinder 1.2-litre diesel engine is still being developed.
