New Delhi — The Volkswagen emission scam is coming to a denouement in the US but it is beginning to haunt its Indian operations. The German carmaker is set to recall as many as 13 models and over 300,000 vehicles in India to replace a device that helped it clear emission standards. Volkswagen used a derivative of its cheat device in India, reported the local media.
"A lot of these are cars of the previous generation which are already out of production/sale. The technical update on cars with EA189 diesel engines is part of a voluntary recall and it will be difficult to say by when the process will be completed. Volkswagen Group in India is working at full speed to have all the updates approved from the authorities and implemented in customer cars," the company spokesperson said.
There is no clarity on the timeframe for the recall process to be completed.
A semi-government body confirmed that Volkswagen will recall its cars.
"There was a software, which they have said they would like to change. It was a global disclosure. So, Indian models will also undergo the change," said Rashmi Urdhwareshe, director of the Pune-based Automotive Research Authority of India (ARAI).
In order to prevent a repeat of such incidents, Urdhwareshe said that India will have to start testing emissions in actual driving conditions. India will introduce BS-VI emission norms from 2020.
