German automaker Volkswagen AG will recall 384,181 cars in China with defective direct-shift gearbox (DSG) transmissions starting April 2, China's quality watchdog said Wednesday, following a report by China Central Television Friday.
The recall involves more than 10 models, including the Sagitar, the Passat and the Golf, with some produced in China and some imported to China, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement on its website.
Volkswagen, together with its joint ventures in China, FAW Volkswagen and Shanghai Volkswagen, will provide free replacement gearbox mechatronics for affected cars and also perform a free upgrade to the latest software version, Volkswagen said in a statement e-mailed to the Global Times Wednesday.
The DSG transmission, widely used in Volkswagen vehicles, could cause problems such as power interruptions while driving.
"I plan to contact my dealer about the recall later today, but I'm not sure when I can get my car back because the recall involves so many cars. The company should compensate us for the inconvenience," said Zhao Feng, a Beijing driver of a Volkswagen Skoda Superb, which is among the affected vehicles.
"My family has another Volkswagen sedan, which is not involved in the recall, but I feel quite nervous while driving it, as the recall made me doubt the quality of the Volkswagen brand," Zhao told the Global Times Wednesday.
Experts also expressed their doubts over whether the recall could fix the problem.
Software updates and mechatronics replacements alone are not a satisfactory solution, Zhou Lijun, editor-in-chief of auto website qcxfz.com, told the Global Times Wednesday. "The lifetime warranty for the DSG issue that Volkswagen introduced in the US in 2009 should be adopted."
A survey report released Friday by Menutor Consulting shows that among 513 drivers who encountered DSG-related problems from June 21, 2012 to February 28, 2013, 52 had their mechatronics units replaced by Volkswagen dealers, but only 31 percent of them said their problems had been solved.