Volkswagen India to recall 323,700 cars

By Mubasshir Mushtaq

MUMBAI, India

Volkswagen Group India announced Tuesday that it would voluntarily recall all of its cars on the Indian market equipped with emissions-cheating technology.

In a statement, the German company said: "Approximately 323,700 cars of Volkswagen, SKODA and Audi in India are equipped with EA 189 diesel engines," adding that the company would replace the software of the recalled cars.

Volkswagen India said it will work with government authorities for the recall of its diesel cars manufactured in the country.

The Automative Research Association of India (ARAI), the government body, ran its own investigation of the emissions-test software, and its findings were in line with those of environmental agencies in the U.S. and Europe.

The government body found that emissions levels in Volkswagen cars manufactured in India were more than 9 times the allowed limit. The report by the ARAI said the diesel vehicles were emitting excess nitrogen oxide.

India first issued a notice to the German carmaker after Volkswagen admitted it had installed the bad software on Sept. 25.

In a separate notice on Monday, India's National Green Tribunal, a top environmental protection body, asked Volkswagen India to reply to its notice by Dec. 23 which seeks the banning sale of the automaker’s diesel cars in the country.

On Sept. 18, the United States Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to Volkswagen Group, after it was found that the automaker had intentionally installed the emissions-test cheating software.

The software caused the vehicles' nitrogen oxide output to meet U.S. standards during regulatory testing, but actually produced up to 40 times higher emissions on the road.

Nearly 12 million vehicles around the world were found to have the bad emissions-testing devices.