Photo: Audi
In June 2021, during vehicle production, Audi observed that some vehicles had been fitted with inoperative infotainment systems. All cases were verified with the supplier, Aptiv Services Deutschland GmbH, after which a root cause analysis was started. Both parties agreed to introduce an improvement measure at the supplier’s facility in July 2021.
A few months later, in October 2021, the Volkswagen-owned automaker became aware of the first cases of main unit failures in field vehicles in the United States of America. The supplier informed Audi that it had screwed up, mistakenly eliminating the improvement measure from production. The undisclosed measure was reintroduced in production that December.
The saga didn’t end there, though. Come June 2022, the Volkswagen Group of America observed an increase in warranty claims indicating a failure of the infotainment system. The Product Safety organization was brought in to evaluate the condition due to the effect on the functionality of the rearview camera display. As expected, an infotainment system that doesn’t work renders the touchscreen display and the rearview camera obsolete. Failure to display the rearview camera image is a noncompliance with federal motor vehicle safety standard number 111 for rear visibility.
After receiving 746 warranty claims in the U.S. alone between September 2021 and October 2022, the safety boffins eventually decided that a recall was necessary. On the upside, Audi hasn’t received any reports of a crash or injury related to this problem. Speaking of which, the infotainment system goes kaput due to a single voltage regulator that may damage various hardware bits and pieces within the main infotainment unit.
Too much voltage permanently damages the infotainment system, which brings us to the remedy for this problem. On December 25th, the day when affected customers will be informed by first-class mail of the recall, authorized retailers will be instructed to replace the infotainment system.
Just over 6,000 vehicles, both combustion-engined and electrically-powered vehicles produced for the 2021 through 2022 model years, are called back stateside. The list begins with the A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, and A8. The the S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, and S8 are also affected, plus the Q3, Q7, Q8, RS Q8, RS 6, and RS 7. Affected nameplates further include the SQ7, SQ8, the e-tron, as well as the e-tron GT pictured in the photo gallery.
The saga didn’t end there, though. Come June 2022, the Volkswagen Group of America observed an increase in warranty claims indicating a failure of the infotainment system. The Product Safety organization was brought in to evaluate the condition due to the effect on the functionality of the rearview camera display. As expected, an infotainment system that doesn’t work renders the touchscreen display and the rearview camera obsolete. Failure to display the rearview camera image is a noncompliance with federal motor vehicle safety standard number 111 for rear visibility.
After receiving 746 warranty claims in the U.S. alone between September 2021 and October 2022, the safety boffins eventually decided that a recall was necessary. On the upside, Audi hasn’t received any reports of a crash or injury related to this problem. Speaking of which, the infotainment system goes kaput due to a single voltage regulator that may damage various hardware bits and pieces within the main infotainment unit.
Too much voltage permanently damages the infotainment system, which brings us to the remedy for this problem. On December 25th, the day when affected customers will be informed by first-class mail of the recall, authorized retailers will be instructed to replace the infotainment system.
Just over 6,000 vehicles, both combustion-engined and electrically-powered vehicles produced for the 2021 through 2022 model years, are called back stateside. The list begins with the A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, and A8. The the S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, and S8 are also affected, plus the Q3, Q7, Q8, RS Q8, RS 6, and RS 7. Affected nameplates further include the SQ7, SQ8, the e-tron, as well as the e-tron GT pictured in the photo gallery.
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