69BT – Inflator May Explode or Underinflate Air Bag – 1998 Audi A8 & 1997-1998 Audi A4

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OMB Control No.: 2127-0004 Part 573 Safety Recall Report 22V-471 The information contained in this report was submitted pursuant to 49 CFR §573 Manufacturer Name : Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. Submission Date : JUL 01, 2022 NHTSA Recall No. : 22V-471 Manufacturer Recall No. : 69BT Manufacturer Information : Manufacturer Name : Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. Address : 3800 Hamlin Road Auburn Hills MI 48326 Company phone : 1-800-893-5298 Population : Number of potentially involved : 28,624 Estimated percentage with defect : 1 % Vehicle Information : Vehicle 1 : 1998-1998 Audi A8 Vehicle Type : Body Style : Power Train : NR Descriptive Information : Audi is filing this report to amend the filing made under Audi Safety Recall code 69BT (NHTSA 20V-056) to correct for a clerical error that was made in entering the affected model years for the Audi A8 into the portal. While the original filing contained a clerical error, Audi has confirmed that all affected owners have been notified under the recall according to regulatory requirements and a recall remedy is available. Both the Audi VIN lookup tool and the NHTSA VIN lookup tool have accurately reflected the full affected population. Because of this, Audi will not conduct any further owner notifications as a result of this filing. Based on the suppliers production records all parts produced until August 20th, 1999 were affected. As the inflators have been produced more than 20 years ago traceability of those parts is limited. Therefore, in January 2020 Audi had decided to include all vehicles with NADI inflators produced until December 31, 1999 in recall 69BT (NHTSA 20V-056). In June 2021, based on analysis results and out of an abundance of caution, Audi had additionally decided to conduct a voluntary new safety recall 69CJ (21V-470) for vehicles produced after January 1, 2000 that are equipped with a NADI inflator and were not yet included in the previous recall 69BT (20V-056) as they were not deemed suspect at the time of that decision. All vehicles will be checked in order to determine whether they are equipped with inflators from the affected production period and the affected inflators will be replaced by an alternative inflator. Audi confirms that all affected Takata NADI vehicles have been included in recalls 69CJ and 69BT. A8: 1,976 Production Dates : SEP 04, 1997 – JUN 23, 1998 VIN Range 1 : Begin : WAUBG74D2WN000276 End : WAUBG34D8WN014076 ✔ Not sequential Part 573 Safety Recall Report 22V-471 Page 2 The information contained in this report was submitted pursuant to 49 CFR §573 Vehicle 2 : 1997-1998 Audi A4 Vehicle Type : Body Style : Power Train : NR Descriptive Information : Audi is filing this report to amend the filing made under Audi Safety Recall code 69BT (NHTSA 20V-056) to correct for a clerical error that was made in entering the affected model years for the Audi A4 into the portal. While the original filing contained a clerical error, Audi has confirmed that all affected owners have been notified under the recall according to regulatory requirements and a recall remedy is available. Both the Audi VIN lookup tool and the NHTSA VIN lookup tool have accurately reflected the full affected population. Because of this, Audi will not conduct any further owner notifications as a result of this filing. Based on the suppliers production records all parts produced until August 20th, 1999 were affected. As the inflators have been produced more than 20 years ago traceability of those parts is limited. Therefore, in January 2020 Audi had decided to include all vehicles with NADI inflators produced until December 31, 1999 in recall 69BT (NHTSA 20V-056). In June 2021, based on analysis results and out of an abundance of caution, Audi had additionally decided to conduct a voluntary new safety recall 69CJ (21V-470) for vehicles produced after January 1, 2000 that are equipped with a NADI inflator and were not yet included in the previous recall 69BT (20V-056) as they were not deemed suspect at the time of that decision. All vehicles will be checked in order to determine whether they are equipped with inflators from the affected production period and the affected inflators will be replaced by an alternative inflator. Audi confirms that all affected Takata NADI vehicles have been included in recalls 69CJ and 69BT. A4: 26,648 Production Dates : AUG 04, 1997 – SEP 09, 1998 VIN Range 1 : Begin : WAUCB88D9VA276026 End : WAUAA88G7WN005352 ✔ Not sequential Part 573 Safety Recall Report 22V-471 Page 3 The information contained in this report was submitted pursuant to 49 CFR §573 Description of Defect : Description of the Defect : Affected vehicles are equipped with Takata Non-Azide Driver Airbag Inflators (NADI) which were produced and sold by Takata. These inflators do not contain phase stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN) propellant. According to the equipment defect notification 19E-080 filed by Takata, certain Takata Non- Azide Driver Airbag Inflators have the potential to exhibit elevated moisture ingress due to insufficient aluminum tape seal. This can lead to slow deployment, which may result in insufficient protection by the driver frontal airbag, or there may be over-aggressive combustion creating excessive internal pressure when the driver frontal airbag is deployed. Audi is currently not aware of any inflator ruptures in the field or in test environments in Audi vehicles. Audi is also not aware of any field incidents in Audi vehicles worldwide where the airbag/inflator showed a slow or non-deployment. However, our testing shows that NADI inflators in Audi vehicles could potentially underinflate or not deploy at all due to moisture ingress. FMVSS 1 : NR FMVSS 2 : NR Description of the Safety Risk : In case of a crash with airbag deployment, propellant with high moisture content may result in reduced restraint performance, which may lead to an increased risk of injury. Audi vehicles are equipped with a different type of NADI inflators than the ones with reported field incidents. At this point Audi is not aware of any cases worldwide in Audi vehicles involving NADI inflators where the airbag did not perform as designed, neither inflator ruptures nor cases of underinflation. Description of the Cause : Based upon the investigation by the supplier and our own analysis, the potential for an insufficient airbag performance and all influential factors have not been fully understood so far. The failure mechanism may be influenced by a variety of factors, including the subtype of the NADI inflator, manufacturing variations, climatic conditions, vibration, specifics of vehicle applications or other variables. Identification of Any Warning that can Occur : None Involved Components : Component Name 1 : Driver Airbag Inflator Component Description : Driver Airbag Inflator Component Part Number : 4B0.951.403 4B0.951.403 A Part 573 Safety Recall Report 22V-471 Page 4 The information contained in this report was submitted pursuant to 49 CFR §573 Supplier Identification : Component Manufacturer Name : Takata (TK Global LLC) Address : 111 Peyerk Court Romeo Michigan 48065 Country : United States Chronology : June 08, 2022: NHTSA reached out to Volkswagen Group of America with a question about the models/model years included in Audi Recall 69BT (NHTSA 20V-056). June 28, 2022: After investigating the matter, Volkswagen determined that a clerical error that was made in entering the affected model years for the Audi A8 and Audi A4 into the NHTSA recall report portal.Audi is filing this report to amend the filing made under Audi Safety Recall code 69BT (NHTSA 20V-056) to correct for a clerical error that was made in entering the affected model years for the A4 & A8 into the portal. Audi has confirmed that all affected owners have been notified under the recall according to regulatory requirements and a recall remedy is available. Both the Audi VIN lookup tool and the NHTSA VIN lookup tool have accurately reflected the full affected population. Because of this, Audi will not conduct any further owner notifications as a result of this filing. Based on the suppliers production records all parts produced until August 20th, 1999 were affected. As the inflators have been produced more than 20 years ago traceability of those parts is limited. Therefore, in January 2020 Audi had decided to include all vehicles with NADI inflators produced until December 31, 1999 in recall 69BT (NHTSA 20V-056). In June 2021, based on analysis results and out of an abundance of caution, Audi had additionally decided to conduct a voluntary new safety recall 69CJ (21V-470) for vehicles produced after January 1, 2000 that are equipped with a NADI inflator and were not yet included in the previous recall 69BT (20V-056) as they were not deemed suspect at the time of that decision. All vehicles will be checked in order to determine whether they are equipped with inflators from the affected production period and the affected inflators will be replaced by an alternative inflator. Audi confirms that all affected Takata NADI vehicles have been included in recalls 69CJ & 69BT. Description of Remedy : Description of Remedy Program : At no cost to customers, dealers will replace the driver frontal airbag inflator with an alternative inflator. Audi will not offer a reimbursement program under this recall. How Remedy Component Differs from Recalled Component : The driver airbag inflator will be replaced with a completely newly designed inflator with Guanidine nitrate (GuNi) propellant. Identify How/When Recall Condition was Corrected in Production : Based on Takata´s production records, all inflators produced from August 21, 1999 have received an improved sealing and are therefore not affected. Recall Schedule : Part 573 Safety Recall Report 22V-471 Page 5 The information contained in this report was submitted pursuant to 49 CFR §573 Description of Recall Schedule : While the original filing contained a clerical error, Audi has confirmed that all affected owners have been notified under the recall according to regulatory requirements and a recall remedy is available. Both the Audi VIN lookup tool and the NHTSA VIN lookup tool have accurately reflected the full affected population. Volkswagen confirms that all affected Takata NADI vehicles have been included in recall 69CJ and 69BT. Because of this, Audi will not conduct any further owner notifications as a result of this filing. – Dealer notifications were completed on 09/13/2021 – Owner interim notifications were completed on 03/26/2020 – Owner notifications for recall remedy available were completed on 09/21/2021 – 100-day owner reminder notifications were completed on 12/30/2021 Planned Dealer Notification Date : NR – NR Planned Owner Notification Date : NR – NR * NR – Not Reported

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