VW recently agreed to recall vehicles outfitted with two inflator designs, known as PSDI-5 and SDI, however the company has argued that its components were built in a different factory that has not been associated with problematic parts.
"All known field ruptures to date have occurred in competitor's vehicles with inflators produced in Takata's LaGrange (USA) or Monclova (Mexico) production plants after more than 10 years in service," the automaker wrote in a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (PDF). "None have involved inflators produced in Takata's Freiberg (Germany) plant, nor have there been to our knowledge any ruptures in Lot Acceptance or Conformity of Production testing conducted on inflators built in the Freiberg plant."
No root cause has been definitively established for the inflator explosions, though exposure to moisture in the air is believed to play a critical role. VW suggests the US and Mexico factories "lacked proper air conditioning and humidity controls" until recently (the US plant is now closed, and the Mexico facility added A/C in 2011).
"These manufacturing process deficiencies, combined with age and high absolute humidity, appear to have led to ruptures in the field," the letter adds.
The German plant is said to have benefited from air conditioning, superior quality-control, a higher level of automation and "more consistent personnel" during the same time period.
Volkswagen promises to spearhead its own investigation comparing German-built inflators against similar parts built in Mexico in 2011 and beyond. It is unclear if the German-built airbag inflators have already been included in Takata's post-recall lab tests. The company will presumably take inflators from vehicles in the field, such as junkyard inventory, to assess inflators that have been been put to use in the real world.
"We respectfully request that, should such results be shown, the agency work with Volkswagen and other manufacturers to revisit the scope of the recalls," VW wrote.
The NHTSA has not yet publicly responded to the concerns raised in the letter.
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