Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has made a global voluntary recall of a number of models for repairs and software updates, after it emerged that they were emitting more C02 than they were certified to emit.
While 44,000 vehicles in the UK have been impacted, the company has not revealed the full global number, though it says India isn’t impacted.
The recall affects 10 different models of petrol and diesel vehicles fitted with 2-litre engines including some Land Rover Discovery and Discovery Sport cars, Range Rover Evoque, Sport and Velar cars, and Jaguar E-Pace, F-Pace, F-Type, XE and XF cars.
“Affected vehicles will be repaired free of charge and every effort will be made to minimise inconvenience to the customer during the short time required for the work to be carried out,” the company said. It added that this included corrective repairs and software updates, while certain 2016-17 Range Rover Evoques would require the fitting of new low-rolling resistance tyres that “enhanced the efficiency of the powertrain, thereby lowering C02 emissions.”
“This is a global recall, India is not impacted,” the company said in an emailed clarification to this paper. “The cost of the recall isn’t a major impact to financials,” it added.
In the UK, after concerns first emerged, JLR worked with Britain’s Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), the country’s type approval authority, to identify the scale of the problem and the actions needed. It is now working with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), which is following up on VCA’s work, to “ensure that the recall is administered and managed in line with the recall procedures to ensure the vehicles are rectified as soon as possible”, the agency said.
“The DVSA’s priority is to protect everyone from unsafe drivers and vehicles. This includes vehicles that are damaging our environment. Where new vehicles sold for use on British roads don’t conform to emissions standards, DVSA will work with other government agencies and manufacturers to ensure the vehicles are fixed as quickly as possible,” said Neil Barlow, DVSA Head of Vehicle Engineering.
Challenging time
The recall comes at a challenging time for the company.
It recently posted a quarterly loss of £3.4 billion in February after taking a non-cash write-off worth £3.1 billion, as it was hit by a mix of factors including slumping sales in China. It has also pointed to other headwinds including around changing consumer attitudes in Europe towards diesel vehicles in particular and also to uncertainties such as Brexit.