The defect
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018-2021 Atlas and 2020 Atlas Cross Sport vehicles. The passenger occupant detection system (PODS) may experience a fault in the wiring and deactivate the front passenger air bag 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 wiring harness, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on March 22, 2024. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69FB.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Volkswagen Atlas | 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 |
| Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport | 2020 |
Components: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volkswagen Atlas | 2018 | 466 | 17 |
| Volkswagen Atlas | 2019 | 483 | 12 |
| Volkswagen Atlas | 2020 | 27 | 4 |
| Volkswagen Atlas | 2021 | 480 | 17 |
| Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport | 2020 | 107 | 11 |
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