Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Software problem with the Golf 8
VW calls bestseller back to workshop
Volkswagen already had to postpone the launch of the best-selling model in Europe last year due to software problems. They do not seem resolved to this day. The car manufacturer has now announced that the infotainment system and the reversing camera have failed in the Golf 8.
Even after the sales start of the new Golf 8, Volkswagen is struggling with software problems and has to call tens of thousands of its bestseller vehicles to the workshops. A spokesman said 56,000 vehicles of the first batch of the model that had rolled off the assembly line by July were affected across Europe.
A software update must be installed on the car. The reason are failures of the infotainment system and the reversing camera in some of the cars. VW emphasized that it was not a recall ordered by the Federal Motor Transport Authority, but a "voluntary service measure".
The problems also affected VW's share price, with the paper temporarily losing 1.9 percent. "It was already known that there were problems with the Golf VIII," commented one dealer. "Nevertheless: It is to be rated negatively for the sentiment", the market participant continues, also considering that the vehicles will have considerably more software on board in the future.
VW wants to make the recall appealing to customers with a one-year extended warranty, a free rental car for the duration of the workshop visit and a service voucher.
The Wolfsburg gave no information about the costs. VW had to postpone the launch of the best-selling model in Europe last year due to software problems. This had raised the works council and contributed to the criticism of CEO Herbert Diess.
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