Enlarge image
Natural gas vehicle after tank bursting: Recall for Touran models
Photo: Hauke-Christian Dittrich / picture alliance / dpa
Because parts of the tank could rust through and, in the worst case, burst, Volkswagen is taking around 21,000 natural gas-powered Touran models to its workshops as a precaution.
According to data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), the safety-related tests in Germany cover a little more than 8,300 seven-seater vehicles.
According to VW, unnoticed corrosion can occur in individual cars on the rear two of the four gas cylinders, which cannot be seen from the outside during routine checks - with long-term material weakening and "in the worst case" sudden escape of the CNG mixture.
Therefore, the affected cars should be examined intensively, said VW.
The problem was found during "extensive quality checks" and the owners were now being written to.
The cars would now be inspected closely, and gas bottles would be temporarily deactivated or replaced if necessary.
It is about CNG variants of the Touran from model year 2006 and between 2010 and 2015.
In April, a Touran driver in the East Frisian town of Wittmund suffered burns on his legs when gaseous fuel suddenly escaped from a storage tank while he was being refuelled.
Not for the first time there are problems with the tanks or cylinders in VW natural gas models.
An earlier exchange campaign also ran for corresponding editions of the Passat and Caddy, in which the wall thickness could fall below a critical level due to rusting.
In Duderstadt, Lower Saxony, a bottle burst in 2016 and seriously injured the driver.
Several petrol station groups then recommended that their stations temporarily stop selling natural gas.
mmq/dpa
