The VW Golf 8 is the beacon of hope at Volkswagen. But shortly after the start of sales, there is a negative message: The eCall system has pitfalls - and causes problems for other group bestsellers.
- The eighth generation of the VW Golf rolls onto the market with the electronic emergency call system eCall .
- The technology reveals pitfalls: Volkswagen imposes a delivery freeze on the novelty.
- Other corporate brands are apparently affected by the problem - there is a risk of a mega recall .
Wolfsburg / Ingolstadt - Since 2018, the electronic emergency call system eCall must be installed in all new cars in the European Union. With the new VW Golf 8, which has recently been rolling to dealers and customers, the technical innovation is now causing problems . In investigations by Europe's largest carmaker, in isolated versions of the new hope-bearer, a non-reliable data transfer to the control unit was noticed. As a result, engineers came to the conclusion that the function of the emergency call assistant could not be fully guaranteed.
VW Golf 8 before recall - Further group models are examined
The suspicion that the technical problem does not only appear in the group's most successful model series, but also in other group series, has now become more concrete: The group sisters Audi , Skoda and Seat are also likely to be affected by the difficulties with eCall - all four manufacturers now have to prepare for a recall of numerous vehicles. In concrete terms, this would affect the VW Golf as well as the identical models Audi A3 Sportback , Seat Leon and Skoda Octavia .
Internal tests by the manufacturers are in full swing - after all, the models are based on the same production kit as the new VW Golf 8 . To date, there has only been a delivery stop for the Golf and the Octavia - the cause of the possible failures is a malfunction of the corresponding software.
What about the EU emergency call system , which is legally mandatory ? The following video explains how it works:
Audi explained about the problem: "We continue to analyze, also because there are minor differences in hardware and software." A spokesman for the Ingolstadt-based company told the Automobilwoche : "The basic assumption that corresponding Audi models could also be affected is correct." The Spanish VW offshoot Seat said in a statement, "you evaluate the details and work on a solution."
VW Golf 8: Works council boss repeatedly criticizes Volkswagen novelty
A recall for the successful VW Golf model is looming - and could be extended to the group brothers in the compact class. A decision by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) on a necessary software update is expected this week. For this reason, Volkswagen has decided not to deliver any more Golf 8 cars until further notice , while production will continue as planned for the time being.
The new problems with the VW Golf 8 exacerbate the Wolfsburgers' recent sales problems : As a result of the Corona crisis, demand had already collapsed and the car dealerships had been closed for longer. According to dpa, finished VW new cars are stuck in some locations . In 2019, around 100,000 pieces of the VW novelty should come off the assembly line in Wolfsburg - in fact, however, only 8,400 were produced. Works council chief Bernd Osterloh repeatedly criticized the problems, calling them a "tragedy" and "failing" the start of the new beacon of hope.
Due to the recent development, the works council requires VW to add another mass model to its headquarters in Lower Saxony. The employee representatives fear that the current underutilization with canceled shifts and short-time work due to Corona could worsen if it is recalled *. The new, eighth generation of the VW Golf had to deal with delays due to problems with the electronics even before sales started.
EXCLUSIVE - software from VW for other brands: Audi, Škoda and Seat are also troubled by emergency calls - automobile week https://t.co/t76hM3V2Qw
- Till Funke (@software__) May 17, 2020PF with dpa
* Merkur.de is an offer from the nationwide Ippen Digital editors network
