Diesel engines made by Volkswagen India are under the scanner at the German automaker’s headquarters.
This is because they belong to the same family of engines (EA189) that sparked a global outrage for being embedded with software that helped circumvent lab emission tests. Over 20,000 units have so far been manufactured In India.
A spokesperson for VW India said, “Investigations are being carried out on these engines in Germany, and we are awaiting the data.”
VW India has invested over ₹200 crore on setting up an engines plant as well a new engine testing facility here.
The first product to roll out from here since January 15 was the 1.5-litre diesel engine that was developed in Poland and has been localised to some extent. The plant has installed capacity to make 98,000 engines per annum, and the made-in-India engines go into the VW Polo and VW Vento as well as into the Skoda Rapid, the three cars currently being built at Chakan.
With the Centre roping in Pune-based premier automotive research and testing agency ARAI to probe whether emission tests in the country have also been circumvented, a row of VW cars was seen waiting to enter the premises. It was not clear whether these were being subjected to routine endurance tests or would be part of the special emission testing process.
The 1.5-litre engine is a derivative of the 1.6-litre engine (earlier made and imported from Poland).
In addition to these two, the EA 189 family of diesel engines has two more members, namely the 2.0 litre engine that goes into VW models Jetta and Passat, and a 1.2-litre engine that has now been discontinued.
During 2014, VW India exported nearly 60 per cent of its total production from Chakan, with Mexico being the major market.
Nearly 40 per cent of all Polo cars produced here are with diesel engines, while the figure for the Vento stands higher at 70 per cent.