By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Volkswagen said on Wednesday it was recalling over 307,000 vehicles in North America due to a potential wiring fault that may deactivate front passenger air bags when the seat is occupied.
The recall covers 271,000 2021-2024 model year Atlas and 2020-2024 Atlas Cross Sport SUVs in the United States and about 36,000 in Canada where the passenger occupant detection system (PODS) may experience a fault in the wiring and could pose a safety risk in the event of a crash.
The Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport are among the automaker’s best-selling vehicles in the United States.
This is the second recall by VW over the issue. In March 2023, Volkswagen recalled 143,000 2018-2021 Atlas and 2020 Atlas Cross Sport vehicles over the issue and the automaker met with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to discuss the differences between the production periods.
VW said “out of abundance of caution, the committee decided to recall the Atlas vehicles with a specific technology installed” and said it was based on 1,730 warranty claims for replaced PODS parts.
Volkswagen will notify all owners of the affected vehicles by Aug. 16, the company said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
“Once parts are ready, Volkswagen dealers will replace the PODS sensor mat and wiring harness with improved parts free of charge,” Volkswagen added.
Until the recall repair has been performed, NHTSA advised vehicle owners to avoid the use of the front passenger seat when possible.
The recall also affects nearly 36,000 vehicles in Canada.
Earlier this year, Volkswagen issued a recall of more than 261,000 vehicles in the United States due to an issue with a jet pump seal inside its fuel tank.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington Shivansh Tiwary and Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
