Just before the Dragon Boat Festival on Satur­day, China's qual­ity watchdog released its response to a number of complaints about the gearbox system on certain Volkswagen models.

Yet the response wasn't what the angry consumers had been hoping for.

On March 12, Jiang Suhua, a lawyer with the Beijing-based Yingke Law Firm, had submitted a recall request to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quaran­tine on behalf of 372 Volkswagen auto owners.

The following day, the watchdog an­nounced on its website that it had con­tacted the German auto giant regarding the complaints about unusual noises, vibrations and transmission problems with the DSG (direct shift gearbox) automatic transmission of some Volk­swagen cars.

"We are conducting probes with some professional institutes. If the DSG is confirmed to be flawed, we will press Volkswagen to recall the products according to regulations," said a state­ment from the administration.

However, just over three months later, the watchdog gave its answer to the law firm, saying that "as to consumers' complaints about the DSG problem, after experts conducted analysis and an in­vestigation, the administration so far thinks the DSG cannot be described as defective."

"The probe result lets our consumers down," said Jiang, noting that he is waiting for a decision from his clients now as to whether they will take further legal action.

Growing complaints

Multinational carmaker Volkswagen has been suffering waves of complaints about its DSG system in China in recent months.

Last week, an Internet user named Fan Zhengwei wrote a letter to Jochem Heizmann, who was appointed to be Volkswagen's new leader for the China market earlier this month to properly handle the DSG quality issue. The reshuffle is believed to be related to the failure of the former China boss, Karl-Thomas Neumann.

"I can understand that a new car, priced at as much as 300,000 yuan ($47,130), has unusual noises, and vi­brates when I switch gear; but I cannot accept a low-level error like the engine losing power," Fan wrote in his letter, which was also circulated on the Inter­net. Fan also described the problems he had when his Volkswagen Passat broke down on a highway in Beijing on June 16.

"You can take a chance by hoping consumers will accept the (faulty) DSG, but trust me, Volkswagen will be the one who pays eventually," Fan wrote.

Typing in the keywords "Volkswa­gen" and "DSG problem" on baidu.com produces more than 5 million results. A total of 28 QQ consumer rights protec­tion groups devoted to the DSG issue have been established online.

 According to the Beijing-based Economic Information Daily Economic Information Daily, a financial newspa­per affiliated to Xinhua News Agency, up to 1,000 consumers have filed com­plaints about the gearbox to relevant authorities.

The DSG problem involves several of Volkswagen's well-known models, such as Golf, Sagitar, Ladiva and Bora, and a large volume of potentially affected vehicles have been sold.

Ma Jinghua, head of brand and prod­uct communications at Volkswagen China, told the Global Times Thurs­day that the company has offered free technology upgrade services to custom­ers with DSG gearbox problems since March 9 in China.

"More than 80 percent of consumers have completed technology upgrades for their cars, which can solve the DSG gearbox problem," Ma said, noting that if consumers have any problems after upgrading, they can contact local dealers.

In addition, Ma said, Volkswagen is still carrying out an investigation into the DSG system.

Volkswagen sold 2.26 million vehicles in China in 2011, accounting for 27.6 percent of its global sales.

Recall or not?

The carmaker told the Global Times in an interview in March that the company would not recall autos due to a problem with the DSG gearbox as the reported problems pose no threat to the vehicles' safety, and insisted that the problem would be solved by a software upgrade.

However, Zhu Ming, a manager at LMC Automo­tive, an auto information and consulting services provider, told the Global Times that the problem with the gearbox can cause a potential risk, as it may cause the vehicles to break down.

In late March, a few car owners protested in front of a 4S store in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and complained that the software upgrade did not solve the problems with the DSG system.  

 An insider with the German auto­maker told the Global Times on condi­tion of anonymity that the company does not consider the DSG transmis­sion to be defective, and believes that "a recall will not be necessary".

However, Volkswagen announced in 2009 a recall of 13,500 vehicles in the North America market because of problems with their DSG systems. The recall applied to the 2009 model year vehicles along with a few 2010 model year vehicles, and the affected brands included Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, GTI, and Eos vehicles manufactured between September 2008 and August 2009.

Volkswagen China and its two local joint ventures announced on May 25 that they would extend the DSG gearbox maintenance warranty to 10 years or 160,000 kilometers, from four years or 150,000 kilometers, following a meet­ing with the country's quality watchdog to address consumer complaints over the quality problems.

Volkswagen does not want to recall autos because it might have a negative impact on its brand reputation, said Fu Zhiyong, a copartner at consulting firm Adfaith Management Consulting.

"China should complete its recall regulations as soon as possible to avoid potential risks with autos," Fu said. Be­cause the country's recall standards and regulations are not complete or mature yet, foreign auto brands adopt different measures in dealing with auto defects.

In April, BMW China said it would recall 177 imported BMW cars, 164 Mini Coopers and 73 Rolls-Royce Ghost cars produced between March and Au­gust last year due to defective electronic pumps. Also in April, Italian luxury car maker Maserati said it would recall four GranTurismo MC Stradale models, over problems with their seat belts.

"Auto recalls are a normal phenom­enon for a mature carmaker, and they prove that the carmaker is showing its responsibility toward consumers," Chen Guangzu, committee member of the China Auto Industry Consultancy Commission, told the Global Times.

 Two years ago, China replaced the US as the world's largest auto market. "The auto industry in China is witness­ing fierce competition as every foreign carmaker wants to take a share of the booming market, so they need to pay more attention to product quality," said Chen.