The defect
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2022-2023 S8 and A8 vehicles. During air bag assembly, the front-passenger occupant protection flap of the air bag may not have been folded correctly. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
The risk
In a crash, an incorrectly folded air bag can deploy with too much force, increasing the risk of injury to a child or small person who is seated and unbelted on the front passenger seat and very close to the instrument panel.
The remedy
Dealers will replace the front-passenger air bag module, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed April 14, 2023. Owners may contact Audi's customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 69ET.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Audi A8 | 2022, 2023 |
| Audi S8 | 2022, 2023 |
Components: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
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 A8 | 2022 | 0 | 3 |
| Audi A8 | 2023 | 0 | 2 |
| Audi S8 | 2022 | 0 | 3 |
| Audi S8 | 2023 | 0 | 2 |
Other air bags recalls in 2023
34 of the 894 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2023 concerned the air bags; Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. filed 321 campaigns in all.
| 23V830000 22 Dec 2023 | Kia America, Inc. |
| 23V870000 21 Dec 2023 | General Motors, LLC |
| 23V868000 20 Dec 2023 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 23V865000 20 Dec 2023 | Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing |
| 23V837000 12 Dec 2023 | Mazda North American Operations |
| 23V797000 24 Nov 2023 | BMW of North America, LLC |
| 23V780000 21 Nov 2023 | Volvo Car USA, LLC |
| 23V715000 25 Oct 2023 | Porsche Cars North America, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2023