Volkswagen to recall 1.9 lakh diesel cars in India to fix software

Volkswagen is planning to voluntarily recall a huge number of vehicles sold by the company in India starting next month to fix the emission software. The company is awaiting approval from the regulator for starting the recall exercise.

Volkswagen has announced that it will recall 1.90 lakh diesel vehicles in India in order to fix the emission cheating device in its group’s vehicles, which include cars from Audi and Skoda brands too.

According to the company, since the vehicles were recalled in the US to fix the emission software, it decided to do the same in India too to stay updated with the changes made outside the country.

Volkswagen also reiterated that the recall is purely voluntary in nature as the company did not face any charges regarding violating emission norms in India.

Once the company gets a nod from regulators, it will begin recalling cars from July in a phased manner, and the process will be spread over a period of 10 months.

The company is yet to reveal more details about the recall, as to which cars will be affected and how long it will take to fix the problem once it reaches the service centre. The company, however, maintains its stand that its vehicles complied with the Bharat Stage IV standards currently used in the country.

Volkswagen, in September 2015, admitted to the fact that it has employed, in lay-man terms, a special cheat software which enabled the car to detect when it was being tested on a rolling road and enable emission control measures to give out less pollution.

But when the vehicle senses that it is not being tested and used normally, it switches-off those emission saving methods in order to produce more power and performance figures. Volkswagen is currently facing charges in multiple countries and has said that almost 11 million vehicles are affected worldwide.

Source : BS Motoring