- more than 150,000 audi a3 and s3 vehicles have been recalled because their passenger-side airbag system could malfunction.
- the problem affects 2015–2020 a3 and s3 vehicles and could lead to the airbag shutting itself off even if a person is occupying the passenger seat.
- parent company vw will issue recall notifications by may 21.
volkswagen group of america has issued a recall announcement for 153,152 audi a3, rs3, and s3 cars over a problem with the passenger-side airbag setup. the automaker said the cars' passenger occupant detection system, or pods, may erroneously shut off the airbag even when someone is sitting in the passenger seat.
the problem affects 113,164 u.s.-market 2015–2020 audi a3s, 9573 of the 2016–2018 a3 e-tron, 14,532 2015–2020 s3s, and 4147 2017–2020 s3 sedans, according to the automaker's statement provided to the national highway traffic safety administration (nhtsa). the 2013–2019 a3 was previously recalled for this problem, in 2019, at which time audi installed a "new, more robust pods connector and optimized cable routing." complaints came in again in 2020 on vehicles with the fix. despite research, audi has been unable to find the "root cause" of the problem, it said in a letter to nhtsa, and believes that there is "an additional issue . . . within the pods system, beyond the issue addressed" in the first recall. audi emphasized that no accidents or injuries have been reported because of the issue.
audi is still working on a solution to the problem but will notify owners about the problem starting may 21. owners can check the nhtsa recall site for updates or to find out if their vehicle is included.