Volkswagen Recalls Over 114,000 Vehicles in US Over Airbag Explosion Risk

Volkswagen will be recalling over 114,000 vehicles this week across the U.S. due to concerns over the risk of an airbag exploding.
On Thursday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that 114,478 vehicles will be recalled by the automobile company due to concerns relating to an airbag located on the driver side of the vehicle.
“The driver’s side frontal airbag inflator may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures and high temperature cycling,” the NHTSA said in a statement, Reuters reported.
According to Reuters, the recall includes Volkswagen’s Beetle and Passat vehicle models from the years 2006 to 2019.
Following the recall announcement, Volkswagen said it had not received any reports of injuries or fatalities relating to the airbag. Volkswagen also said that it plans to alert the recall and the issue to owners of the specific vehicles by December 27, Reuters reported.
In an effort to fix the current issue with the specific vehicles, Volkswagen dealers will be replacing the airbag located on the driver’s front side for free, according to Reuters.
Past Volkswagen Recalls
This is not the first time Volkswagen has been ordered to recall certain vehicles due to a variety of different issues.
In May 2024, nearly 80,000 Volkswagen vehicles were recalled following an investigation by the NHTSA.
The NHTSA has released a report detailing the recall of 79,953 Volkswagen ID.4 electric vehicles due to issues with the displays and rearview camera. Defective software has meant center and dashboard displays have failed to boot or sporadically reset in some vehicles, resulting in the speedometer not being visible or the rearview camera not working.
“If the rear view camera display is delayed or not displaying an image, there is an increased risk of crash or injury when the vehicle is backing up,” the report reads. “If the instrument panel display is not working or reboots, the driver would not be able to see important vehicle information [such as the vehicle speed] which could result in an increased risk of crash.”
Affected products were manufactured between March 6, 2020, and November 2, 2023. The NHTSA estimated that 1 percent of vehicles being recalled may have the defects. Volkswagen is “not aware of any crashes or injuries related to this issue,” the report reads.
In 2022, Volkswagen announced another recall for Atlas SUVs from 2019 through 2023, as well as the Atlas Cross Sport from 2020 through 2023, because of a slight delay in the deployment of the side airbags caused by faulty wiring harnesses, which can also make the SUVs brake unexpectedly.