Volkswagen says it 'accepts and respects' watchdog's findings

Automaker agrees to step-up Sagitar recall

After a one-year assessment of the new Sagitar, China's quality watchdog on Friday urged FAW-Volkswagen to accelerate its recall to fix a flaw in the rear suspension.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine told FAW-Volkswagen Automobile to improve its recall completion and constantly monitor the cars on which it has added metal plates in a bid to address the defect, and take further actions to eliminate the safety hazard.

It said it is possible for the trailing arms on the torsion-beam of the rear suspension to be damaged in the event of a collision to the rear or side-rear, and if the damage isn't noticed, then the part could fracture while driving.

The administration said the problem with new Sagitar is the "the rear suspensions have lower deformation resistance than the others of the same type."

After installing the metal plates the cars can keep running for a certain distance even if the trailing arms crack, however, there are possibilities that the metal plates may crack later and cause the car lose control, the watchdog said.

The investigation found the metal plates raised the rods' resistance to deformation and reduced the possibility of deformation, but did not completely eliminate the problem.

Soon after the administration released its report, Volkswagen Group China, FAW Volkswagen, and Volkswagen Imports jointly announced they accept and respect the watchdog's investigation results and vowed to take more measures to address the concerns of owners.

Their announcement said "there won't be a crack risk in the trailing arms if no collision happens to the rear or side-rear."

More than 70 experts and engineers from well-known universities and labs analyzed 4,468 valid complaints and conducted telephone interviews with 463 customers. A total of 494 cases involved in malfunction were collected and analyzed, and 143 materials, stress performance and engineering tests were performed.

The automaker is recalling 563,605 new Sagitars, named new Jetta in some other countries, sold in the Chinese mainland from Feb 2, and it said 85.2 percent of the recall had been completed as of Thursday.

The recall made through 4S dealers inspects the trailing arms, and if they show any signs of damage, the entire torsion beam will be replaced free of charge, otherwise the metal plates will be added.

However, Chinese media reported earlier that many new Sagitar owners in 14 provinces and cities claim their cars have not been recalled even though they found their vehicles among the recall completion lists stating satisfaction with the service.

A new Sagitar owner in Beijing was quoted as saying that the FAW-Volkswagen website showed his car had completed a recall and had the metal plates added, but claimed that although he had taken his car in to have a rear door repainted and a technician had found a 1-millimeter crack in the trailing arm, he refused the metal plate solution and drove the car away after the paint job had been completed.

Many new Sagitar buyers have been angered by the way FAW-Volkswagen has handled the issue and requested that FAW-Volkswagen either replace the entire rear suspension or refund buyers.

Chinese media have reported that the cost of replacing an entire rear suspension may cost more than 4,000 yuan ($627.8), which is obviously much more expensive than adding two metal plates.

Before the automaker announced the recall this year, owners had protested across the country numerous times. One owner said that several of owners had held banners and shouted slogans at FAW-Volkswagen's pavilion at the Guangzhou auto show in December 2014, and 11 were detained for 15 days for "threatening public safety".

Bloomberg reported earlier this year that at least 340 new Sagitar owners have employed a Beijing law firm to sue the automaker. They claim that some vehicles have had rear suspension problems without being involved in an accident and that the company's handling of their complaints has been unsatisfactory.

haoyan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/14/2015 page18)