German carmaker Volkswagen will recall more than 100000 plug-in hybrid vehicles worldwide because of the risk of fire, a spokesman for Volkswagen Group said on March 31, the German newspaper Bild reported.
It is reported that the recall involves many brands of the Volkswagen Group, including Volkswagen, Audi, Seattle and Skoda. Of these, the Volkswagen brand will recall 42300 vehicles worldwide, including Passat, Golf, Tiguan and Arteon models. The Audi brand will recall 24400 cars.
KBA, the German automobile regulator, revealed that "the loosening of the engine hood may cause the engine to come into contact with heating parts, which in turn will cause a fire." KBA added that it had received 16 reports of fires in Volkswagen-owned vehicles in Germany.
A Volkswagen spokesman added on the same day: "the plug-in hybrid vehicles involved in this recall combine traditional internal combustion engines with electric drives. Due to the lack of insulation of high-voltage batteries, these vehicles are at risk of catching fire when using sockets to charge."
In March, Volkswagen said it would recall 222892 defective Altas cars in the United States, which could delay the deployment of front-side airbags and increase the risk of people inside the car being injured in a crash. But Volkswagen spokesman Jerohn Anderson said that so far the company has not received any reports of injuries or deaths related to the defect.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the recall included 2019 to 2020 Atlas models, 2020 to 2023 Altas Cross Sport models and 2021 to 2023 Atlas full-length versions.
