VW India puts the brakes on Polo sales

After the recent dieselgate scandal that has rocked Volkswagen globally, the group’s Indian unit Volkswagen Passenger Cars India has said that it is temporarily halting deliveries of the Polo hatchback due to ‘technical reasons’, adding that the move is completely unrelated to the controversy surrounding its diesel engines.

According to the company, the move concerns a limited number of cars out of a specific production period and deliveries for the Polo range which has not been impacted will continue as per schedule.

The company did not disclose many details in its official statement, but when contacted a spokesperson told Autocar Professional that all variants of the Polo, including both petrol and diesel engines from a specific production period are affected. However, there was no clarity provided on specifics like the nature of the concerns and production details.

”We are still compiling the data and will likely issue another statement by tomorrow providing more clarity on the matter,” the spokesperson said.

After the Group was recently caught for manipulating vehicle emission tests in the United States, it admitted that as many as 11 million vehicles across the globe could be affected. The discrepancies were related to vehicles powered by the Type EA 189 common-rail diesel engine family which, in India, includes the 1.6-litre TDI unit, which was later downsized to a 1.5-litre unit that powers the locally produced Volkswagen Vento, Polo as well as the Skoda Rapid. While there has been no clarity on whether India-made cars are affected, the fresh concerns surrounding the Polo will not help its cause in the country.

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