Volkswagen AG, BMW AG recall over 500,000 cars

PanARMENIAN.Net - German car makers Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) and BMW AG (BMW.XE) said Monday, January 16, they are recalling more than 500,000 vehicles due to possible technical problems, The Wall Street Journal reported.

A spokesman for Volkswagen, Europe's largest auto maker by sales, said the company began a recall of 299,000 cars with diesel engines in October last year due to possible problems caused by cracks in the fuel-injection system.

VW has notified the car owners but didn't say how many vehicles have been recalled so far.

The cracks can occur in VW's Golf, Passat, Jetta, Tiguan and other models built since 2009. The company's Audi, Skoda and Seat brands are also affected.

BMW AG (BMW.XE) also said it is recalling a total of 235,000 cars of its Mini brand worldwide due to a possible malfunction of the electric water pump that cools the turbo charger.

A spokesman for the world's largest luxury-car maker said there haven't been any reported accidents related to the possible malfunction.

The comments follow a filing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration saying that BMW will recall 88,911 Mini and Mini Cooper cars in the U.S.