VW shifts gears, issues record recall

As well, the company has to quickly adjust its production mix and increase the supply of other transmissions because customers are now reluctant to buy cars with the seven-speed DSG, said Yale Zhang, director of industry consultancy AutoForesight (Shanghai) Co Ltd.

"Volkswagen's competitors could have an advantage if the company fails to keep up the supply of alternative gearboxes," he said.

With 2.8 million vehicles delivered last year, Volkswagen is the largest passenger car producer in China, its biggest market worldwide since 2009.

With four new vehicle production facilities and three component plants in the pipeline, the company has plans to increase its annual capacity in China to 4 million vehicles in five years.

Zhang said that Volkswagen's long-term performance won't be greatly affected due to its well-established product lineup, facilities and dealer network.

"But it's still a warning bell to all carmakers in China to enhance quality control," he said.

Questions remain

The carmaker and its numerous dealerships in China are now busy preparing for the upcoming recall, yet questions remained whether the replacement of mechatronic unit and software upgrade will solve the problems once and for all.

Zhang Xiaotian, an IT engineer in Shanghai and also a Volkswagen car owner, said that he thinks the recall is just crisis management. He said he's not sure if it can fix the problem permanently.

Zhang bought a Volkswagen Lavida last year with a conventional automatic transmission.

"We heard my friend's story of how his Golf lost power on a highway and because of this we didn't choose the DSG version," he said.

"I was told that DSG just doesn't fit the road situation in China, where congestion happens a lot," he said. Similar views are widespread in online auto forums.

Song Jian, a professor at the department of automotive engineering in Tsinghua University, said DSG technology is not mature and Volkswagen actually hasn't found a good solution to the current problems.

"The problems don't occur in every car and not at all times - it appears in, say, only 1 percent of the cars at 0.1 percent of the time," he said.

According to a report by Menutor Consulting, it usually takes 10 years in mass production for a new technology to mature. "It's the same for turbocharged technology, for the gasoline-electric hybrid, and it will be the same for dry-type dual-clutch transmissions (such as the DSG)," said the report.

"We are not criticizing new technologies, but we wish the manufacturers would limit the damage and keep a friendly attitude to solving problems when they promote new technologies," it said. "China is not an adventure playground for them."

Yang Xiaoliang, a VW owner in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province and whose car is among the recalled vehicles, said he really hopes the recall can eliminate the potential risk of power interruption.

"It's not a problem for just DSG owners - it's about the safety of all people on the roads," Yang said.

hantianyang@chinadaily.com.cn

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