The defect
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2025 GTI, Golf R, Audi A5, A6 Sportback E-Tron, S5, S6 Sportback E-Tron, 2026 Q4 Sportback E-Tron, and Q4 E-Tron vehicles. The torsion bar in one or both front seat belt retractors may have been damaged during production.
The risk
In a crash, a damaged torsion bar in a retractor could fail. If this happens, the seat belt may not properly restrain an occupant during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
The remedy
Dealers will replace one or both front seat belts, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 30, 2025, and October 31, 2025. Owners may contact Audi at 1-800-253-2834 or Volkswagen at 1-800-893-5298. Audi's number for this recall is 69UM; Volkswagen’s number for this recall is 694T. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning September 26, 2025.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Audi A5 | 2025 |
| Audi A6 Sportback E-Tron | 2025 |
| Audi Q4 e-tron | 2026 |
| Audi Q4 Sportback E-Tron | 2026 |
| Audi S5 | 2025 |
| Audi S6 Sportback E-Tron | 2025 |
| Volkswagen Golf R | 2025 |
| Volkswagen GTI | 2025 |
Components: SEAT BELTS:FRONT: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 A5 | 2025 | 8 | 2 |
| Audi A6 Sportback E-Tron | 2025 | 2 | 2 |
| Audi Q4 Sportback E-Tron | 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| Audi Q4 e-tron | 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| Audi S5 | 2025 | 11 | 2 |
| Audi S6 Sportback E-Tron | 2025 | 1 | 2 |
| Volkswagen GTI | 2025 | 0 | 1 |
| Volkswagen Golf R | 2025 | 0 | 1 |
Other seat belts recalls in 2025
33 of the 891 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2025 concerned the seat belts; Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. filed 321 campaigns in all.
| 25V899000 19 Dec 2025 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 25V872000 17 Dec 2025 | Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing |
| 25V862000 12 Dec 2025 | Ford Motor Company |
| 25V864000 12 Dec 2025 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC |
| 25V816000 25 Nov 2025 | Rivian Automotive, LLC |
| 25V797000 17 Nov 2025 | Hyundai Motor America |
| 25V777000 12 Nov 2025 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 25V773000 10 Nov 2025 | Nova Bus (US) Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2025