The defect
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021 Volkswagen ID4, Audi A4 Allroad, A4 Sedan, A5 Cabriolet, A5 Coupe, A5 Sportback, A6 Allroad, A6 Sedan, A7, A8, E-Tron Quattro, E-Tron Sportback Quattro, Q3, Q5, Q5 Sportback, Q7, Q8, RS5 Sportback, RS5 Coupe, RS6 Avant, RS7, RSQ8, S4 Sedan, S5 Cabriolet, S5 Coupe, S5 Sportback, S6 Sedan, S7, S8, SQ5, SQ5 Sportback, SQ7, SQ8, and 2021-2022 S3 Sedan vehicles. The rear seat belt automatic locking retractors may deactivate early, which can prevent the child restraint system from securing properly. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
The risk
An unsecured child restraint system can increase the risk of injury during a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will inspect, and replace as necessary, the middle-rear seat belt assemblies, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 27, 2021. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298 and Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's numbers for this recall are 69CR (VW) and 69CS (Audi).
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
Components: SEAT BELTS | SEAT BELTS:REAR/OTHER:RETRACTOR
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 A4 | 2021 | 11 | 4 |
| Audi A5 | 2021 | 8 | 5 |
| Audi A5 Cabriolet | 2021 | 0 | 3 |
| Audi A6 | 2021 | 18 | 11 |
| Audi A6 Allroad | 2021 | 9 | 8 |
| Audi A7 | 2021 | 6 | 11 |
| Audi A8 | 2021 | 5 | 10 |
| Audi Q3 | 2021 | 15 | 3 |
| Audi Q5 | 2021 | 74 | 8 |
| Audi Q7 | 2021 | 75 | 9 |
| Audi Q8 | 2021 | 30 | 7 |
| Audi RS 5 | 2021 | 2 | 5 |
| Audi RS 6 Avant | 2021 | 4 | 12 |
| Audi RS 7 | 2021 | 4 | 12 |
| Audi RS Q8 | 2021 | 2 | 7 |
| Audi S3 | 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Audi S3 | 2022 | 2 | 7 |
| Audi S4 | 2021 | 2 | 4 |
| Audi S5 | 2021 | 1 | 5 |
| Audi S5 Cabriolet | 2021 | 0 | 3 |
| Audi S6 | 2021 | 0 | 10 |
| Audi S7 | 2021 | 3 | 10 |
| Audi S8 | 2021 | 1 | 8 |
| Audi SQ5 | 2021 | 13 | 5 |
| Audi SQ7 | 2021 | 6 | 6 |
| Audi SQ8 | 2021 | 3 | 6 |
| Audi e-tron | 2021 | 36 | 9 |
| Volkswagen ID.4 | 2021 | 338 | 11 |
Other seat belts recalls in 2021
42 of the 988 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2021 concerned the seat belts; Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. filed 321 campaigns in all.
| 21V979000 16 Dec 2021 | Ford Motor Company |
| 21V958000 9 Dec 2021 | Nissan North America, Inc. |
| 21V900000 18 Nov 2021 | Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) |
| 21V889000 17 Nov 2021 | Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing |
| 21V893000 17 Nov 2021 | Jayco, Inc. |
| 21V680000 5 Nov 2021 | Tiffin Motorhomes, Inc. |
| 21V811000 15 Oct 2021 | Ford Motor Company |
| 21V796000 13 Oct 2021 | Hyundai Motor America |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2021