Add to Volkswagen's woes an auto safety recall. Volkswagen and its Audi brand are recalling nearly 281,500 vehicles owing to fuel leaks.
The recall is massive for VW. The company sold approximately 350,000 vehicles in the last year.
There are actually three separate recalls but all pertain to fuel leaks, though the defects could be different. For many vehicles the suction pump in the fuel tank was improperly assembled, according to Volkswagen.
Leaking fuel in the presence of an ignition source may result in a fire. So far, Volkswagen and Audi say they're unaware of any fires related to the problem.
The vehicles affected are Audi's A3, A6, A7 Q5, Q7 and VW's Golf, SportWagen, and GTI. The problems go back as far as 2007. These are VW's and Audi's best-selling cars and SUVs.
The exact vehicles in this recall and all other automotive safety recalls can be found at recalls.gov. (While researching just now, I realized my car has a safety recall.)
Volkswagen says it will notify all owners of affected vehicles, and dealers will replace the affected suction pump.
This latest round of recalls comes as the company works through its diesel scandal. VW admitted last year that it lied to federal regulators over diesel emissions. Volkswagen faces billions of dollars in potential civil and criminal U.S. fines for violating emissions laws.
The automaker agreed to pay $15 billion in a settlement with federal regulators and consumers. Last month, VW agreed topay its 652 dealers in the U.S. $1.8 million each.
Despite more than a year of bad news, Volkswagen is still on pace to be the world's biggest automaker for 2016.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.