2012-13 Volkswagen Beetle cars recall for faulty airbags in North America

Volkswagen has announced recall of 2471 Beetle cars in USA and 320 Beetle cars in Canada. These recalls will involve vehicles from 2012 and 2013 model years. Complaints of airbag malfunction have been reported where the airbag may deploy even if a child is secured in the front seat though no reports of accident or injury have been reported.

As per reports presented by US National Traffic Highway Safety Administration, if the front passenger seat gets wet, the occupant control module fails to detect the presence of a child restraint on the front seat. This could cause problems with deployment of airbag in case of crash causing risk of injury to children. The problem stems from an incorrectly coded Passenger Occupant detection System control module in the right front passenger location.

Volkswagen noticed this discrepancy during a routine inspection. The affected cars were built from February through August, and the company will be immediately notifying owners to bring in their vehicles for a free replacement of control module.