VW, Audi recall 850,000 vehicles to fix air bag inflators

Volkswagen says it has notified the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the upcoming action involving VW vehicles from model years 2006 to 2014.

The automaker said in a statement Wednesday that it had been notified by the agency that some drivers' side air bag inflators made by Takata Corp. of Japan could be defective.

The recall covers certain 2006 to 2010 VW Passat sedans and wagons made in Germany, as well as some U.S.-made Passats from 2012 to 2014. Also included are the 2010 to 2014 Golf and Jetta SportWagen, the 2009 through 2014 CC, and the 2012 through 2014 Eos.

Also included are some Audi A3 cars from 2005 through 2015, some 2006 through 2009 A4 Cabrios, certain 2009 to 2012 Q5 SUVs and some 2010 and 2011 Audi A5 Cabrios.

The German automakers' recall is part of a broader recall of about 5 million air bag inflators announced last month by U.S. safety regulators.

About 50 million cars worldwide, including 24 million in the U.S., have been recalled to replace the inflators, which can explode with too much force and shoot metal fragments into vehicle occupants. The problem has caused at least 11 deaths and 139 injuries worldwide.

VW and Audi say they don't know of any driver's inflator ruptures in their vehicles.

The companies will notify owners of when to bring their cars in to get replacement inflators.