VW India stops delivery of Polo with immediate effect

Volkwagen India has stopped the delivery of all variants of its Polo hatchback in the country due to a “technical reason” with immediate effect. The carmaker has directed its dealers to halt the delivery of the vehicle until further notice. 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.

However, it has clarified that the move has nothing to do with the recent emission scandal that has rocked the company.

A spokesperson from Volkswagen Passenger Cars India confirmed the move.” Volkswagen India has confirmed a temporary hold on deliveries of its carline Polo due to a technical reason which is currently under evaluation. This concerns a limited number of cars out of a specific production period. Volkswagen further confirms that deliveries for the non-impacted Polo range continues as per schedule,” the spokesperson said. “Volkswagen would like to clarify that the temporary hold on deliveries is not related to the ongoing EA 189 diesel engine topic,” the spokesperson added.

When contacted, the spokesperson told Autocar India that the specific production period in question was not immediately clear and further clarity on the issue is awaited.

Volkswagen was recently caught manipulating vehicle emission tests in the United States and the German carmaker 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. 

However, it was unclear if the defeat device installed on the cars running on the 2.0-litre diesel engine globally has been installed on the smaller capacity Indian powertrains as well.