(Reuters) - Volkswagen AG said on Wednesday it told U.S. and Canadian dealers early Wednesday to stop selling recent models equipped with 3.0 V6 TDI diesel engines.

The stop-sale order follows a notice by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that VW group brands had installed illegal devices on some 3.0 V6 diesel models.

VW and Audi dealers were ordered to stop selling new 2015-2016 models with the 3.0 V6 TDI, including the VW Touareg and the Audi A6, A7, A8, Q5 and Q7.

VW said pre-owned models from 2013-2014 are included in stop-sale order to dealer.

(Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)