Volkswagen is recalling around 91,000 cars in Japan due to potential problems with the company’s dual-clutch (DSG) automatic gearboxes, less than two months after more than 384,000 cars were recalled in China for a similar issue.
A Volkswagen spokesperson told Reuters the gearbox problems related to the seven-speed transmission were due to Japan’s hot and wet climate, extreme stop-start traffic and pollution typical of some Asian cities.
In March, a recall of 384,181 Volkswagen Group vehicles in China was announced – costing an estimated $600 million – due to problems with the direct-shift DSG transmissions that included abnormal vibrations, loss of power and sudden acceleration.
The China recall affected 21 vehicle lines built between 2008 and March 2013, including the Volkswagen Golf, Scirocco, Bora, Touran, Passat, Magotan and Sagitar, the Audi A3 and the Skoda Octavia.
