Around 700,000 SEAT vehicles are fitted with software that allowed them to cheat emissions tests, the Spanish manufacturer has said.

The firm is the latest to come forward following the revelation that parent company Volkswagen has been using the software to generate lower-than-actual emission figures for its vehicles – with roughly eleven million currently known to be affected.

All of these vehicles are diesel powered, and SEAT has temporarily suspended the sales of all new cars fitted with the engines (EA 189) that contain the software.

Additionally, SEAT has set up a search engine on its website for customers to quickly find out if their vehicle is one of those affected, and has also said it plans to contact owners so that their cars can be retested.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen has also made an announcement that customers will be contacted over the following months with regards to refits and what will happen next.

The eleven million affected vehicles are spread across several brands which fall under the Volkswagen group, with the break down as follows:

Volkswagen – 5m

Audi – 2.1m

Vans – 1.8m

Skoda – 1.2m

SEAT – 700,000