Over 18K Porsche vehicles are being recalled over air bag, rearview camera issues

More than 18,000 Porsche vehicles are being recalled due to air bag and rearview camera issues.

Porsche Cars North America issued two recalls last week, one for 9,735 of its 2022-2023 Taycan sports cars and another for 8,571 of its 2024-2025 Macan electric crossovers, documents submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) showed. 

The recall report for the affected Taycans said a “manufacturing error” in their occupant classification system for “automatic airbag activation/deactivation” might cause the front passenger seat air bag to turn off. 

“An air bag that fails to deploy during a crash increases the risk of injury,” the NHTSA said.

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In the report, Porsche Cars North American pointed to the “crimp connection of the seat cushion heating mat at the transition of the connection cable to the heating wire” as being the source of the problem.

Taycan owners affected by the recall will be able to get Porsche dealers to swap out the front passenger seat’s cushion for a “new optimized” one for free to fix the issue, the recall report said.

For the recalled 2024-2025 Porsche Macan EVs, the recall addressed a “software issue that has since been corrected” that could lead to the rearview camera image not showing as the driver puts the vehicle in reverse, according to a separate NHTSA recall report.  

Porsche also said in that report that a “subset” of the affected electric Macans “may also have insufficient bonding of the reverse camera housing which can allow moisture intrusion which can also result in blurry reverse camera images in those vehicles.” 

“The vehicles subject to this recall will get a new software data set to resolve the wake-up and system communications issues, and reserve cameras will also be inspected and replaced as necessary to address any deficiencies with the camera housing bonds,” the NHTSA report for the Macans said. 

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“The safety of our customers is of the utmost importance. For this reason, we continuously conduct spot checks during production and monitor customer vehicles for irregularities, and react quickly when issues are identified. This is a critical part of a functioning culture of putting safety first,” Porsche Cars North America told FOX Business. 

Meanwhile, Audi – another brand under the Volkswagen umbrella – recalled 44,387 SQ8, A6 SEDAN, A7, A8, Q7, Q8, RS6 Avant, RS7, RSQ8, S6 SEDAN, S7, S8, A6 Allroad and SQ7 vehicles from the model year 2021, citing a risk that their instrument panel’s displays may not work due to “software error,” according to NHTSA.

If that happens, information such as engine speed, vehicle speed, gear and mileage may not be available to drivers of the affected vehicles on the instrument panel, the recall report said. 

Audi said that it is providing a free software update for the instrumental panel. 

“Audi of America takes the safety of its customers and the quality of our vehicles very seriously. In order to ensure the highest levels of safety and quality, we are issuing a recall of certain 2021 MY Audi vehicles,” Audi told FOX Business. “We are applying this action in an abundance of caution for the safety of our customers.” 

No injuries or accidents have arisen from any of the three separate issues, according to the recall reports. 

Porsche is mailing letters to affected Macan and Taycan vehicle owners in early June. Owners of the recalled Audi vehicles can expect to get a letter in the mail in late May.