California regulators said Tuesday they have rejected Volkswagen's recall plan for some of its most popular diesel models, including the Beetle and the Jetta, that used software to intentionally deceive government emissions tests.
The California Air Resources Board said the recall plan was unacceptable for a variety of reasons, including that it did not adequately identify the affected vehicles; did not include a sufficient method for obtaining the car owners' names and address and did not include adequate information on how the fix would affect future emissions results.
The state agency also issued a formal notice of violation against the German automaker
The rejection only applied to 2.0-liter diesel engines registered in California — 75,688 vehicles from model years 2009 to 2015, according to state officials.
A recall plan for 3.0-liter diesel engines, including some sold under the VW-owned Audi and Porsche brands, is due to state regulators next month.
"VW's submissions are incomplete, substantially deficient and fall far short of meeting the legal requirements," Annette Herbert, head of the agency's emissions compliance, automotive regulations and science division wrote in a letter to VW executives.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is also investigating VW, issued a statement saying it agreed with California regulators but was operating on a different timetable.
In a statement, VW said it was continuing to work with both state and federal regulators and the rejection of its recall plan Tuesday did not mean a recall would not occur.
