Volkswagen Lost Thousands Of Cars From Chemical Explosion In Tianjin, Now Recalls 461,300 Vehicles Due To Defective Airbags

By Alex Cruz | Aug 15, 2015 10:09 PM EDT

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Volkswagen, whose brand-new waiting to be shipped cars were reportedly destroyed by the explosion incident in Tianjin, is now recalling about 461,300 cars in the United States and Canada to fix the problem that might prevent the airbags from deploying, NBC News has learned.

The explosion that happened in the warehouse hit 1,065 Touaregs, 114 Golfs, 391 Beetles, 84 up!s, 257 Tiguans, 39 SportsVans, 28 Magotans and 770 "specials" according to a Chines source, Jalopnik reported. These Volks were waiting to be shipped from the port of Tianjin.

Volkswagen announced on Friday that the recall would affect 420,000 units in the United States market and 41,300 from Canada.

The affected models are Volkswagen CC, Passat and Tiguan that were manufactured in 2010-2014. Eos and Jetta, assembled in 2010-2013; Golf and GTI built in 2011-2014; and Jetta SportWagen in 2011-2013, according to CBC News.

The world's biggest carmaker said that the fragments may contaminate the clock spring of the airbag. It is a spiral wound, flat cable that is keeping the airbag powered while the steering wheel is being turned.

It could result in a loss of electrical connection to the frontal airbag of the driver, and it may not deploy properly in an accident.

There is an ongoing airbag problem with Takata, which affected eleven automakers. However, USA Today found out the Volks' problem is not linked with it.

The German automaker stated that they are currently working on a solution to fix the problem. The company said that the owners would see a warning light for the airbag if the car is predisposed to the problem.

No deaths or injuries had been reported by the company in connection to this.

In the United States, the company's sales reportedly plummeted by 10 percent to 367,000 last year. Meanwhile, its Canada branch reported an increase of 13.8 percent from the previous year, with its July 2015 sales summing up to 43,592.

Volkswagen reportedly outstripped the title from Toyota, making the German brand the current world's largest automaker.

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