The defect
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2017-2020 A4 Allroad, A4 Sedan, 2018-2019 RS5 Coupe, 2019 RS5 Sportback, 2018-2020 A5 Cabriolet, A5 Coupe, A5 Sportback, S4 Sedan, S5 Cabriolet, S5 Coupe, and Audi S5 Sportback vehicles. The cable connecting the seat heater to the Passenger Occupant Detection System (PODS) may have a contact fault, causing the software to misdiagnose a malfunction and disable the passenger air bag.
The risk
A disabled passenger air bag increases the risk of injury in the event of a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will replace the connecting cable and either the heating mat or entire seat cover, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 7, 2022. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 74E3. This recall is an expansion of Recall 19V-547 (74D9). Vehicles previously repaired under 19V-547 will need to return for the new remedy.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Audi A4 | 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 |
| Audi A5 | 2018, 2019, 2020 |
| Audi RS 5 | 2018, 2019 |
| Audi S4 | 2018, 2019, 2020 |
| Audi S5 | 2018, 2019, 2020 |
Components: SEATS | AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION:FRONT PASSENGER
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 | 2017 | 56 | 1 |
| Audi A4 | 2018 | 45 | 1 |
| Audi A4 | 2019 | 10 | 1 |
| Audi A4 | 2020 | 128 | 3 |
| Audi A5 | 2018 | 38 | 6 |
| Audi A5 | 2019 | 12 | 3 |
| Audi A5 | 2020 | 60 | 4 |
| Audi RS 5 | 2018 | 1 | 3 |
| Audi RS 5 | 2019 | 3 | 5 |
| Audi S4 | 2018 | 7 | 2 |
| Audi S4 | 2019 | 2 | 1 |
| Audi S4 | 2020 | 17 | 3 |
| Audi S5 | 2018 | 26 | 2 |
| Audi S5 | 2019 | 6 | 4 |
| Audi S5 | 2020 | 25 | 4 |
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. |
| 21V873000 10 Nov 2021 | Chrysler (FCA US, LLC) |
| 21V868000 9 Nov 2021 | Tesla, Inc. |
| 21V860000 5 Nov 2021 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC |
| 21V834000 25 Oct 2021 | Tesla, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2021