Kfz-Betrieb reported that humidity could cause a short circuit of the panoramic roof’s light strip on affected volkswagens. This, it turn, could cause the roof to become scorched, and potentially set the car on fire, the magazine said.
A recall for 700,000 cars to fix a problem that could cause the vehicle to catch fire sounds like a pretty major undertaking, and it is, but in all likelihood the event will be remembered through history’s lens as a mere blip on the radar screen compared to the problems Volkswagen has faced in recent years.
In September 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a rare and unprecedented “notice of violation” to Volkswagen when it was found that certain VWs equipped with so-called “clean diesel” technology were fitted with “defeat device” software that made them appear up to 40 times more efficient during testing than under real-world driving conditions.
The EPA and U.S. Justice Department filed civil lawsuits against Volkswagen, which has paid $25+ billion in fines and been forced to plead guilty to criminal charges. The scandal affected more than 11 million VWs worldwide, led to a 7-year prison sentence for company executive Oliver Schmidt, and seriously impacted the once sterling reputation of the world’s largest automaker.
Volkswagen is currently working on a solution to fix the lighting problem on its Tiguan and Touran models, and will notify owners of the recall by mail.
To date, no accidents, injuries or other incidents have been associated with the recall.
Source: U.S. News & World Report