India Appoints Panel to Monitor GM Diesel Recall

India's Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has set up a special panel to monitor General Motor Co.'s recall of diesel-powered Chevrolet Tavera SUVs that don't meet the country's emission standards, The Wall Street Journal reports.

GM said in July it would upgrade 114,000 Taveras built locally during the 2005-2013 model years after determining that its staff falsified emission test data to ensure the vehicles were certified for sale. GM later removed 15 employees, including Sam Winegarden, its vice president for global engine engineering, because of their involvement in the scandal.

The Transport Ministry's own three-member investigative team says GM India manipulated test and misled inspectors, according to the Journal. But the ministry also has recommended new probes by the state governments of Gujarat and Maharashtra, where GM assembly plants are located.

India has no government mechanism to force recalls. The country's auto industry has been using a voluntary system set up last year by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.