Volkswagen regrets delay in addressing clutch problem in China

Last January, Chinese bloggers began writing about complaints concerning cars equipped with the dual-clutch transmission system of Volkswagen. Customers complained online and through dealers that the clutch system did not change gears properly, or that changing gears caused an unusual noise. Volkswagen said it looked into the problem and by March, it had identified two possible reasons for the problems which were related to the valve control and clutch lining. Volkswagen offered free service in March at its dealerships and updated the software of cars which had transmission problems. Volkswagen did not however, launch the widely expected recall. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said Volkswagen explained in a notice to the national quality watchdog that since the direct shift gearbox (DSG) problem is not related to vehicle safety, there was no need to make a recall. Ma Jinghua, a spokeswoman at Volkswagen Group China, explained: “The software update still continues and it has proven to be very successful.” But some car owners insist that the software updating did not fix the problems and that their cars had weaker performance after the software update. Ma said that Volkswagen is still investigating the feedback and that the company will “follow it case by case to ensure the satisfaction of our customers”.
Volkswagen extends warranty for new cars in China
In the meantime, Volkswagen announced that it had decided to lengthen the warranty for new cars in China, Volkswagen’s biggest sales region, to 10 years or 160,000 kilometers. The previous warranty was for four years or 150,000 kilometers. Volkswagen said it had come to a “very far-reaching solution” with its two local joint-venture partners to fix the problem. The warranty extension covers the DQ200 seven-speed, as well as the DQ250 six-speed DSG transmissions. “Volkswagen regrets that the DQ200 (seven-speed) gearboxes have inconvenienced some of our Chinese consumers and pledges to take such complaints very seriously and make every effort to satisfy Chinese customers,” the company said in a statement made through Ma. “We hope to reassure our Chinese customers of the reliability and advantages of DSG, which is a new and innovative technology in the global automotive industry.” The DSG transmission is a key feature in more than 10 models and more than 1 million vehicles are equipped with the system. The company has promoted the transmission and Volkswagen’s TSI turbocharged engine as the “golden combination” for better fuel efficiency and power performance. (May 31, 2012)