The defect
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2015-2020 Audi S3 Sedan, A3 Sedan, 2016-2018 A3 Etron, 2017-2020 RS3 Sedan, and 2015-2019 A3 Cabriolet vehicles. The passenger occupant detection system (PODS) may malfunction and switch off the passenger air bag even when the seat is occupied.
The risk
A deactivated passenger air bag increases the risk of injury during a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will replace the PODS sensor mat and update the PODS control module, free of charge. Owners letters were mailed December 23, 2021. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 69BY.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Audi A3 | 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 |
| Audi A3 Sportback E-Tron | 2016, 2017, 2018 |
| Audi RS 3 | 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 |
| Audi S3 | 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 |
Components: AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION:FRONT PASSENGER | AIR BAGS:ON-OFF SWITCH ASSEMBLY
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audi A3 | 2015 | 93 | 2 |
| Audi A3 | 2016 | 83 | 3 |
| Audi A3 | 2017 | 44 | 2 |
| Audi A3 | 2018 | 33 | 2 |
| Audi A3 | 2019 | 10 | 3 |
| Audi A3 | 2020 | 16 | 3 |
| Audi A3 Sportback E-Tron | 2016 | 2 | 3 |
| Audi A3 Sportback E-Tron | 2017 | 2 | 2 |
| Audi A3 Sportback E-Tron | 2018 | 0 | 2 |
| Audi RS 3 | 2017 | 1 | 2 |
| Audi RS 3 | 2018 | 13 | 4 |
| Audi RS 3 | 2019 | 5 | 2 |
| Audi RS 3 | 2020 | 1 | 1 |
| Audi S3 | 2015 | 53 | 2 |
| Audi S3 | 2016 | 14 | 3 |
| Audi S3 | 2017 | 9 | 2 |
| Audi S3 | 2018 | 5 | 1 |
| Audi S3 | 2019 | 2 | 1 |
| Audi S3 | 2020 | 1 | 1 |
Other air bags recalls in 2021
65 of the 988 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2021 concerned the air bags; Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. filed 321 campaigns in all.
| 21V980000 16 Dec 2021 | Ford Motor Company |
| 21V925000 24 Nov 2021 | Chrysler (FCA US, LLC) |
| 21V923000 24 Nov 2021 | Ford Motor Company |
| 21V892000 17 Nov 2021 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 21V874000 10 Nov 2021 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 21V873000 10 Nov 2021 | Chrysler (FCA US, LLC) |
| 21V868000 9 Nov 2021 | Tesla, Inc. |
| 21V860000 5 Nov 2021 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2021