Add China to the growing list of countries that have been affected by Volkswagen's emissions scandal.
The embattled automaker has recalled nearly 2,000 cars in China that were part of its emissions cheating, the BBC is reporting. A bulk of the 1,950 cars that Volkswagen is recalling in China are Tiguan models, but the overall amount of affected vehicles can reportedly grow in the country.
"I have so far seen little impact on consumers' confidence and trust in the VW brand [in China], but we need to continue to monitor that," Yale Zhang, of the Shanghai-based Automotive Foresight, told the BBC. "Their sales are already weak this year thanks to the slowdown in China's general economy. If sales took a further beating from the current emissions scandal, that would further complicate their position globally following the scandal."
China has also opened an investigation into VW over cars sold in the country. The United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, France, Australia and China are just some of the countries that have been affected by VW's emissions scandal, which has 11 million vehicles worldwide with manipulated software.
The timing couldn't have been worse, considering Volkswagen laid out its plan for the massive recall just last week, vowing to begin in January and aiming to end late 2016. CEO Matthias Mueller stated that some of the 11 million vehicles affected will simply need a software update, while others will need new parts like fuel injectors and catalytic converters. He didn't even rule out the possibility of new vehicles being presented to current owners of affected cars.
While VW has offered its "sincerest apologies" to China, it will be intriguing to see if the automaker has to continue making announcements for recalls leading up to or in the midst of massive repairs and updates being done on 11 million of its affected vehicles, already.
If announcements like this one keep popping up, the total cost of Volkswagen's emissions scandal could be far worse than the $6.5 billion projection the auto manufacturer originally made.
