GM India misreported facts with knowledge of top brass: Panel

A three-member panel probing alleged violations by General Motors India related to recall of 1.14 lakh units of Tavera multi-purpose vehicle has submitted its report to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

"We have received the report, it is a bulky report and we need some time to go through it and only then can we comment on it," a Road Ministry official said.

When contacted P Balendran, Vice President, General Motors India said, "We are not able to comment as we have not heard from the government or seen the report."

Nitin Gokarn, CEO, National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRiP), headed the three-member panel, which was also entrusted with the job of deciding on the penalty for the company if it was found guilty of any fraud or violation. Calls made to Gokarn remained unanswered.

The company, in July, recalled 1.14 lakh units of its multi-purpose vehicle Chevrolet Tavera, manufactured between 2005 and 2013, to address emission and specification issues.

The panel, which was formed in July by the Road Ministry, was investigating alleged non-compliance of emission norms and other violations, if any, by the General Motors India.

Balendran, however, said the company had "determined there was an emission problem. We investigated it and identified violations of company policy".

He added the company has developed a solution to the emission problem and recalled the vehicles to fix the same.