At least 3.14 lakh Volkswagen cars are powered by the EA 189 engine in India and the ARAI has also found out that the diesel engines do not comply with BS IV norms.
The recent Volkswagen emissions scandal has been the talk of the automotive industry worldwide ever since it came out in the open. The EA 189 range of diesel engines is quite popular and is fitted in a number of Volkswagen cars. Talking about the Indian market, there are 3.14 lakh Volkswagen Group cars that are fitted with the EA 189 engine and have emission issues. According to the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), the most affected cars are the Polo, Jetta, Passat and Audi A4.
The ARAI has issued a show cause notice to the German automaker and the company said in a statement that they will revert to ARAI by the end of this month. Volkswagen may also be penalised if found guilty under the Motor Vehicles Act. The Motor Vehicles Act may also have to be amended now so that it conducts lab tests as well as road-tests for emissions of all the cars being made available in India. The ARAI has said that it has the capabilities to carry out such tests.
The exact number of cars that are affected by the issue is not known and it is also likely that there might be issues in petrol cars too and both Volkswagen and ARAI have said that they will test the petrol cars if need be. It also came to light that ARAI has found out that Volkswagen cars do not meet BS IV emission norms. Volkswagen will be recalling over 1 lakh affected cars in India soon and will fix them by either updating the software or by putting in new hardware.
The 1.5-litre TDI engine is the one that violates BS IV norms and is being assembled in Chakan. Before 2015, Volkswagen used to import all their diesel engines. The petrol engines are still being imported. Whether the violation of BS IV norms is due to a global issue with the engines or only in the Indian context will soon be found out.
