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Johannesburg - The South African government will investigate whether Volkswagen (VW) vehicles in the country are affected by the automaker’s admission that it cheated on emissions testing for diesel engines.
The National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS), a unit of the Department of Trade and Industry (dti), will work with the environmental affairs and transport ministries to assess vehicles’ compliance with emissions regulations, the NRCS said in an e-mailed statement dated September 23.
Volkswagen admitted to rigging engines to circumvent pollution controls in the US, the country’s Environmental Protection Agency said September 19.
The crisis wiped about €20bn (R306bn) off VW’s market value this week, forcing CEO Martin Winterkorn to step down on Wednesday as the scandal widened and opened the door for the exit of other top executives.
“If vehicles are found to be non-compliant, the NRCS will apply sanctioning process, which will lead to recall of the relevant vehicles for correction," it said.
The regulator will compare implicated vehicle models against those that were approved in South Africa to determine whether there was any manipulation of pollution data, followed by sampling and testing of emissions requirements against the relevant local standard, it said.
Volkswagen South Africa spokesperson Matt Gennrich declined to comment.
There were 8 472 new Volkswagens sold in South Africa in August, second only to Toyota’s 9 939, according to National Association of Automobile Manufacturers data. Volkswagen sold the most passenger vehicles during the month at 23% of the total.
