Volkswagen had introduced a recall of 2018-2021 Atlas and 2020 Atlas Cross Sport sports utility autos attributable to issues with the occupant-detection system for the entrance passenger seat.
A fault within the wiring connecting seat heaters to the occupant detection system can deactivate airbags even when a passenger is within the entrance seat, leaving the airbags inert within the occasion of a crash.
When the airbags are deactivated, by design a warning mild and error message are displayed, and a warning sound can be emitted, based on a elements report despatched to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration by Volkswagen.
Drivers who encounter these warnings ought to deliver the automobile right into a Volkswagen dealership for inspection and restore as quickly as attainable, the report urges.
Volkswagen estimates that 3% of the 143,053 autos being recalled have this wiring defect. Only 15 Atlas Cross Sport fashions are implicated within the recall, with the remaining being Atlas fashions.
Volkswagen and the NHTSA urge drivers to not let any passengers sit in one of many recalled autos till a restore has been made. Letters notifying drivers of stated autos can be despatched out May 26.
Volkswagen spokesperson Mark Gillies advised NPR that the corporate was not conscious of any accidents probably stemming from the wiring problem. The first particular person driver reviews of passenger airbag points within the Atlas fashions had been despatched in August 2019.
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