Sources from New Delhi have stated that over a year into the exercise, German auto major Volkswagen has been able to rectify only 30% of the 3.4 lakh recalled diesel vehicles it had equipped with defeat device that helped cheat emission tests in India. The Volkswagen Group India had said the process has been delayed as it involves different brands, engines and models.
A Volkswagen Group India Spokesperson told that the company's headquarter has so far given approval for engine updates that cover almost 70% of the vehicles which have been recalled in India and overall, by the end of last month, 30% of the entire lot of vehicles that is eligible for the update has been covered.
In December 2015, the group had announced recall of 3.4 lakh vehicles in India across its different brands, including Audi, Volkswagen and Skoda, sold from 2008 till end of November 2015. A government ordered probe had found the automaker's EA 189 diesel engines were equipped with a defeat device that helped it cheat on emission tests.
The company last year announced plans to update the engines of the recalled vehicles. On the slow progress of update, the spokesperson said several brands, various markets and models, different engine variants and gearboxes and various model years had to be considered while developing the updates and the technical measures were being defined and developed by Volkswagen Group at the headquarters in Germany. The Spokesperson said final two approvals for updates are currently in the pipeline and are expected to be received in the next few days. These would correspond to the remaining 30% of the volume of cars.
