Jaguar Land Rover recalls 44,000 cars over excessive CO2 emissions

‘Affected vehicles will be repaired free of charge,’ company promises

JLR's Halewood operations site (Getty)

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is recalling tens of thousands of its cars in the UK over concerns about their carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels.

The country’s biggest car manufacturer said 10 models are emitting more of the greenhouse gas than expected.

An industry source said around 44,000 cars will be recalled once the appropriate remedial action to modify the vehicles is agreed between the manufacturer and the authorities.

In the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal, consumer body Which? said the company would have to “act quickly” to reassure customers their cars would be easily fixed.

The recall will include the Land Rover Discovery and Discovery Sport, the Range Rover Evoque, Sport and Velar, and the Jaguar E-Pace, F-Pace, F-Type, XE and XF.

The affected JLR cars have a 2.0l diesel or petrol engine. The company said in a statement: “Jaguar Land Rover is conducting a voluntary recall following the identification of CO2 performance variability with certain Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles fitted with 2.0l diesel or petrol engines.

“Affected vehicles will be repaired free of charge and every effort will be made to minimise inconvenience to the customer during the short time required for the work to be carried out.”

Natalie Hitchins, head of home products and services at consumer group Which?, said: “Consumers must be able to fully trust the claims of car manufacturers, particularly after the emissions scandals of recent years.

“Jaguar Land Rover must now act quickly to tell affected customers so that they can have their vehicles modified appropriately.”

Workers inspect a Land Rover Discovery on the production line (Reuters) (REUTERS)

Neil Barlow, head of vehicle engineering at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), which administers the vehicle recall process, said: “DVSA’s priority is to protect everyone from unsafe drivers and vehicles.

“This includes vehicles that are damaging our environment. Where new vehicles sold for use on British roads don’t conform to emissions standards, DVSA will work with other government agencies and manufacturers to ensure the vehicles are fixed as quickly as possible.”

Concerns about vehicle emissions have grown since the Volkswagen diesel scandal emerged in September 2015.

The German carmaker agreed to pay a €1bn (£880m) fine in Germany last year after it was revealed to have cheated tests on diesel engines in the US and Europe.

In January, JLR announced it would cut 4,500 jobs to make £2.5bn of cost savings. The luxury carmaker blamed growing uncertainty about Brexit and slowing demand in China.

The majority of those cuts are expected to be in the UK.

Additional reporting by PA