It was the year 1968 when Volkswagen launched the Beetle. The vehicle was so unique that it ended up becoming the best-selling car in the entire world for the same year.
Volkswagen has been one of the most popular automobile manufacturing companies in the entire world. It has continued producing vehicles that are part of every class.
Beetle has been one of the most demanded and highly affordable vehicles, which is why its sales are always high.
It is among the companies that have hardly ever recalled its vehicles due to facing any issues with the vehicles. However, it seems that the scenario is hanging for Volkswagen as well.
The company has also come under pressure due to the ongoing market downtrends and macroeconomic issues.
Beetle’s Last Model is Facing Problems
For Volkswagen, the problem for Volkswagen has begun with the issues faced with the Beetle vehicle. It is the last model for the Beetle vehicles from 2019 when the problem has begun.
The particular vehicles had been produced in the Puebla Volkswagen manufacturing plant based in Mexico.
Just recently, the executives at Volkswagen talked about what their company is attempting to do in the upcoming years.
The executives stated that they have started moving away from the smaller and coup cars. Their focus is now on the SUVs and vehicles that will run on electric batteries.
Although Volkswagen wants to focus on electric vehicles, the first thing it needs to do is to deal with the Beetle issue.
Reports have started coming in about the Beetle models from 2019 when the vehicles are facing issues with the airbags. Reports are coming in about the Takata airbags installed in the Beetle vehicles.
It has been confirmed that almost 40,000 vehicles are facing this particular problem. This information has been shared by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
33 People Died due to the Airbags
However, the NHTSA has claimed that the airbags problem is not only with the 2019 models but with the ones older than that.
The report shows that since 2009, a total of 33 people have died in the entire world due to airbag explosions. Out of the 33 deaths, 24 were reported in the United States.
Volkswagen has claimed that so far, they have issued transactions for recalling a total of 37,558 Beetles. The company has mentioned that the Takata airbags have been installed in the recalled vehicles.
These airbag inflators have been produced by Takata and they are filled with ammonium nitrate.
Volkswagen is Recalling Older Beetle Models
Volkswagen officials have confirmed that they have not been made aware of any cases involving the Beetle vehicles from 2015 and 2016.
Still, they have decided to recall these models for Beetle as well as they are being highly cautious. They want to recall the vehicles in abundance from all of the recent models to run inspections.
Volkswagen provided an explanation on the Takata airbags revealing that the Beetle vehicles are installed with ammonium nitrate.
The substance causes a small explosion for the purpose of inflation when an accident takes place.
The company has hinted that if the substance remains in a highly humid and temperature environment, it can end up blasting.
As a result of the explosion, the sharp metal fragments may fly in all directions causing a tremendous amount of damage. Due to such explosions, a total of 33 people from all over the world have lost their lives.
There have been multiple injury cases reported due to similar explosions caused by the Takata airbags.
Prior to the current announcement, it was in 2020 when Volkswagen recalled 105,652 Beetles from the United States.
Although Volkswagen is trying to take care of the problem it is going to cause problems for the company in the stock market.
At the time of writing, Volkswagen’s shares are experiencing a 0.24% surge but it may result in a dip in the upcoming days.
