Volkswagen Korea to recall 28,957 cars for defects

Volkswagen Korea will voluntarily recall 28,957 cars it sold in the country for safety-related mechanical defects, the government said Wednesday.

The local unit of German auto giant Volkswagen said eight models had problems with clock springs that can cause the vehicle horn to malfunction and inadvertently trigger air bag warning lights to go, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said.

This defect, in addition, can damage the air bag cables and prevent them from deploying during an accident.

Cars affected are the European and U.S. versions of the Passat, CC, Jetta, Tiguan, Scirocco, EOS and Golf that were made in the 2010-2014 models years.

The carmaker said it will start correcting the problems free of charge starting Wednesday.

The latest recall comes after the company admitted to installing a "defeat device" on its cars causing vehicles to spew more pollutants on the highway than when they undergo emission testing.

In addition, Volkswagen said it has found problems with the software that controls high pressure fuel pumps in 1,246 Passat 1.8 TSIs. Problems with this software can cause a drop in engine output and hurt the vehicle's break performance.

Cars affected were made between Nov. 18, 2014 and June 24 of this year.

Besides Volkswagen, BMW Korea will recall 432 Mini Coopers, for air bag-related problems. The company said the cars affected were made between July 2, 2014 and Aug. 27, 2015. It said car owners can receive free repairs starting Wednesday. (Yonhap)