TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Volkswagen Group Japan K.K. said Wednesday it will recall a total of 50,736 Polo compact cars to fix their side airbag system free of charge.
In a report filed with the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, the wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG said the Polo models in question were manufactured between August 2004 and August 2009 and include 1.4-liter and 1.8-liter engine versions.
A defect in the wiring system for the airbag's sensor causes its deployment to be delayed by up to 0.015 second, the ministry said.
The German automaker discovered the defect through its own in-house investigation and there has been no report of an accident induced by the problem, the subsidiary said.
The recall concerns right-hand-drive models only. Volkswagen will handle the same airbag problem in about 56,000 Polos sold in Britain, Australia and other nations in accordance with each country's regulations, it added.
