The Volkswagen Group has announced a recall for approximately 3,23,700 cars in India.
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On Tuesday, the company announced a voluntary recall of 198,500 cars from Volkswagen, 88,700 cars from SKODA and 36,500 cars from Audi across various models sold in India.
Till November end, approximately 323,700 cars of Volkswagen, Skoda and Audi in India were equipped with EA 189 diesel engines.
Speaking at an event here, Anant Geete, Union Heavy Industries Minister, further said that the German carmaker accepted the violations after being sent a show cause notice, and thus chose to voluntarily recall its cars. Once the technical solution proposed by the company is approved by competent authorities, the automaker will carry out necessary fix at no cost to the customers. In September, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found the company guilty of installing illegal software in its diesel engines.
Volkswagen has been suffering a global backlash after admitting it rigged software to cheat diesel vehicle emission tests. “The most unfortunate aspect of this whole situation for Volkswagen is they have to start the healing process and the repairing process for their brand, and you can’t do that while the scandal is still growing”, said veteran automotive analyst Karl Brauer of Kelley Blue Book. The existing software does not affect the handling, technical safety or the roadworthiness of the auto.
The company was then asked to recall around 11 million vehicles worldwide could be affected. “[The company] will not deviate from its future planned investments, product plans and launches”, the statement added. This in comparison to 31,725 units in November 2014 and 23,883 cars sold in the U.S. last month.
ARAI director Rashmi Urdhwareshe did not respond to phone calls or text messages. The ARAI has been authorised by the central government to conduct an investigation into the matter. ARAI is a collaborative association between the automotive industry and the ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises.
So much so that all diesel vehicles coming in India will also be checked whether they were complying with the norms or not.
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The steep drop in VW sales came during a month in which most automakers benefited from healthy demand for new vehicles, particularly pickup trucks and sport utility models.
