The country’s apex vehicle testing agency Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), which is probing the issue, will submit its findings to the Ministry of Heavy Industries shortly.
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It is learnt that VW India is preparing to recall the cars before November 8.
The latest buzz is that Volkswagen India is likely to recall 100,000 cars.
Rashmi Urdhwareshe, director of ARAI, declined to comment, but said her team will be meeting government officials on Thursday with a report. A meeting was held between Volkswagen Group India representatives and the Ministry of Heavy Industries and ARAI officials today.
The recalled vehicles list which would be called from India include the auto models like, Vento, Jetta and Passat sedan cars, Polo hatchback and Polo Cross.
“Since there is a complex combination of several brands, various models, different engine variants and gearboxes as well as different model years that need to be analysed, establishing detailed facts is taking a longer time”, the company said in its statement.
Europe’s biggest carmaker has admitted cheating USA diesel emissions tests and that up to around 11 million vehicles worldwide could contain illegal software – the biggest business crisis in its 78-year history.
To CNBC-TV18’s query, a VW India spokesperson said: “Investigations is underway to find out if the cars sold with EA 189 engines impacted due to the software or not, in Indian context”. During this period, company representatives will stay in regular touch with ARAI to keep the authorities updated on the analysis. The subsequent steps will depend on the findings from these evaluations, the statement said.
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“But Volkswagen is saying they need a few more time for response from their headquarters, they will get a response from headquarters only by November-end”, he added. Volkswagen Passenger Cars said that about 5 million cars may have the cheating device, while Audi says 2.1 million of its cars are affected, and 1.2 million Skoda units have the device.
