VW told to update China on vehicle recall

The emissions scandal of Volkswagen has had a limited impact on China, since the country has been slower in using diesel vehicles due to technology and petroleum quality, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said on Oct 12, 2015.[Photo/Agencies]

China's environmental and quality watchdogs have required Volkswagen to release timely updates on the recall of imported diesel vehicles in the wake of the emissions scandal.

The recall from Volkswagen, Europe's biggest automaker, applies to the 1,946 imported Tiguan sport utility vehicles and four Passat B6 sedans, according to a statement released on the company's website on Monday.

Other vehicles sold by FAW-Volkswagen and Shanghai Volkswagen, as well as other imported vehicles, have not been affected and do not need to be recalled, it said.

Technical solutions have been developed to correct the engine software that the automaker admitted was designed to cheat on emissions testing, but they have yet to be submitted to Chinese authorities for approval, the statement said.

VW has admitted that it installed software on the diesel engines that switches on pollution controls when the vehicles were tested, but switches them off during driving.

The emissions scandal has had a limited impact on China, since the country has been slower in using diesel vehicles due to technology and petroleum quality, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said on Monday.

The ministry will closely watch the investigation into VW and require the automaker to make the imported vehicles meet exhaust emission standards in China.

In addition, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine urged local quality watchdogs to supervise VW dealers through random checks.

Yan Ziqing, deputy head of the Committee of Vehicle Emission Control, said that it is hard to test whether the engine software has cheated or if it is not currently in China because the testing machines cannot provide accurate measurements.

"I believe the exhaust emissions in China are worse than in the United States," he said in a report in Southern Weekly on Oct 1.

The VW emissions scandal broke on Sept 18.

"The slow reaction of relevant government departments is because of the vague response mechanisms on such hot issues, especially in industries involving vehicles and industrial products," Wang Chengdong, an administrative law professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said on Monday.

It is estimated that over 11 million vehicles have the problematic engine software, and VW could face estimated fines of up to $18 billion in the US.

Cao Yin contributed to this story.