Jaguar Land Rover is recalling 44,000 cars in the UK over greenhouse gas emissions, the car maker has said.

The Vehicle Certification Agency found ten models were emitting more of the carbon dioxide gas than they had been certified to emit. Jaguar Land Rover then informed the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, which handles recalls, of the findings.

Recalls of cars to fix safety defects happen fairly often, but full product recalls because of exhaust emissions are rare. It is thought to be the first carbon dioxide-related recall for Jaguar Land Rover.

It will affect versions of the Land Rover Discovery, Discovery Sport, Range Rover Sport, Velar and Evoque made between 2016 and 2019. Jaguar models affected include the E-Pace, F-Pace, F-Type, XE and XF. Most models are petrol, while some are diesel.

The car maker will have to carry out free repairs of the models. The repairs could include software updates as well as physical alterations, and some Range Rover Evoque models will need new tyres.
Vehicle emissions have come under more scrutiny since Volkswagen’s diesel scandal, in which it was found to have installed software to trick emissions tests.

At the same time, international agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions has prompted multiple governments to announce plans to ban the sale of new fossil fuel-powered cars, with the UK to do so from 2040.

European manufacturers are under pressure to reduce the average emissions of their new cars from 118.5g of CO2 per kilometre to less than 95g by 2021.