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South African Regulators Could Sanction Volkswagen

South African Regulators Could Sanction Volkswagen

South African regulators are investigating Volkswagen’s local business to see if cars sold there rigged carbon emissions data after the German car maker admitted to cheating on U.S. diesel emissions tests.

If Volkswagen was not in compliance with local emissions measures, cars could be recalled in South Africa, according to a report in JustAuto.

All Volkswagen cars met the requirements, according to South Africa’s National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) website. The regulator ensures that vehicles comply with the necessary standards, including emissions, before being sold locally.

“Should we find out that the tests that were provided to us were noncompliant, that’s when the sanctioning process will have to start,” said Temba Kaula, acting general manager of the automotive sector at the NRCS, in a Reuters interview. The regulator hopes to conclude the investigation within three months, JustAuto reports.

Volkswagen is the second most popular car brand in South Africa after Toyota, selling 8,472 out of 51,055 units in August, according to National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa.

Europe’s largest carmaker admitted to cheating in diesel emissions tests in the U.S. and Germany’s transport minister says it also manipulated them in Europe, where Volkswagen sells about 40 percent of its vehicles, Reuters reports.

The scandal and crisis wiped more than 33 percent off Volkswagen’s market value, sent shock waves through the global car market and could harm Germany’s economy, according to Reuters.

Volkswagen said it will repair up to 11 million vehicles following the scandal, a move which some analysts say could cost more than $6.5 billion.

Of those 11 million, 1,189,906 will be recalled in the U.K., Engaget reports.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that Volkswagen was using a software trick known as a defeat device to detect when a car was being tested for emissions. The device would automatically enable the car’s emissions control systems. When the car returned to normal mode, the diesel engine would resume putting out high levels of nitrogen oxide which contribute to air pollution and causes respiratory issues, according to Engadget.

Not all the affected cars are Volkswagen brands. Other vehicles found to be using the so-called cheat device include Audi, SEAT and Skoda.

Volkswagen South Africa spokesman Matt Gennrich said the company was in contact with regulators.

“There is obviously a full investigation going on internally, and that includes to see how many cars are involved in each market, including South Africa, and once that investigation is complete we will co-operate with authorities,” he said, according to JustAuto.

South Africa has a state-of-the-art vehicle emissions test center built in 2000 in East London at a cost of 30 million rand. In a 2010 interview, Bonakele Mehlomakulu, CEO of the South African Bureau of Standards, said the emissions test center was not being used because auto manufacturers did their own emissions testing overseas or had their own in-house facilities, Independent Online reports.

Mehlomakulu said the test center was not viable because there was no need for emissions testing to be done independently.

The East London emissions test facility is used on a limited basis by some locally based vehicle manufacturers, said Nico Vermeulen, the director of the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa.