Audi and Skoda join VW transmission recall

MORE than 8000 Audi and Skoda vehicles will be recalled in Australia over the same transmission fault that has seen parent company Volkswagen today recall nearly 26,000 vehicles of its own.

Premium brand Audi will recall 6267 of its A1 and A3 small hatchbacks built between July 2008 and July 2011, fitted with the S tronic seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (Audi’s name for the Volkswagen DSG).

GoAuto understands Volkswagen’s Czech-based entry brand Skoda is poised to issue a recall on 1746 of its Octavia and Superb models, again fitted with the seven-speed dual-clutch.

The issue with both brands is understood to be the same as that of parent company Volkswagen, which this week bowed to concerns over the reliability of its cars by issuing a recall.

According to the official recall notice for the Volkswagen issue, an electronic malfunction in the control unit inside the DSG’s mechatronics could result in the car losing power.

The notice went on to say that “other important vehicle systems, such as steering and braking, along with other relevant systems, will continue to be fully functional”.

Volkswagen said it would fix the fault and do a software update at the same time.

Audi Australia corporate communications general manager Anna Burgdorf said affected Audi owners would be contacted soon, and encouraged those with concerns to call the brand’s customer service hotline on 1800 502 384 if they had questions.

Volkswagen Group cars have been under the spotlight since the revelation almost two weeks ago that the Victorian coroner was looking into the 2011 death of a Melbourne woman after a truck slammed into the rear of her VW Golf, which was stopped on a freeway.

The car-maker has pointed out that the car involved in the 2011 fatality had a manual gearbox. The coroner is yet to hand down a finding.

The Fairfax Media reports sparked a flurry of stories from other Volkswagen owners who reported that their vehicles had unexpectedly lost power while on the road.

The Department of Infrastructure and Transport last week revealed it was working with Volkswagen to “establish whether systemic safety issues are involved”.

Volkswagen issued a recall for more than 400,000 cars in China last year to fix faulty gearboxes. Similar recalls were later issued in Japan and Singapore.