The company’s letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stated the door handles could allow water to enter the circuit board assembly, which may lead to the doors opening unexpectedly.
According to Volkswagen, the production halt could last until the beginning of next year as it works to resolve the issue.
Just been thinking about this since posting. Why only the US and why so long if only US?
If they’re using different parts in US and it’s fine in the EU, then switch to what the EU is doing and be quick about it?
If it’s the same, then maybe we’ll hear about an EU recall soon?
If the US version is not the same as the EU version there’s probably a regulatory reason they’re not using the EU version. Or maybe an EU recall is coming. I don’t know the specifics here, but generally if a US vehicle is different from its EU version there’s a regulatory reason.
Car makers would prefer if North American and European regulators could agree to a single standard for everything because it would simplify their designs and lower costs, as well as open more markets to niche vehicles that aren’t worth the investment to modify, but it hasn’t happened so far. There’s a mix of egos in play as well as legitimately different needs for different regions, but the legitimate issues should be resolvable if there was political will.
EDIT: I suppose it’s also possible the Chattanooga plant just was following a bad assembly procedure or sourced a bad part that isn’t an issue from other factories.
If it’s really different due to regulations thats one thing, but with regards to your edit I’m just surprised at how long it’s being shut down if it was an assembly or bad part. This sounds bigger than that if it’s a multi month fix.
Yeah, a long shutdown for a fix sounds like they’re needing to redesign something and test/certify the fix. That keeps me more in the mind that this is a unique North America part (unless Europe also announces a recall soon) and that would probably be significantly different for a regulatory reason.