Reports of transmission problems in cars manufactured by German automaker Volkswagen were not “isolated cases,” the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said over the weekend, adding that the results of a probe are scheduled to be released in June.
The ministry said it had received multiple complaints since last year from drivers of Volkswagen cars equipped with DQ-200-model or DQ250-model direct shift gearboxes (DSG), who said the vehicles would occasionally lose power while driving or while stationary, or that they would automatically switch to the “limp-home” mode while driving.
Limp-home mode is a default setting where a car’s computer takes over the control calibrations of the engine when a serious problem is detecting. During limp-home mode, the car produces less power than normal.
The Vehicle Safety Certification Center reviewed the information provided by car owners and Volkwagens’ agent in Taiwan and found that 61 cases were related to incidents in which cars lost power while being driven.
Meanwhile, 135 cases were related to the automatic switch of DSGs to limp-home mode and 453 others were about cars losing power while stopped.
Both the center and the ministry had convened several rounds of expert meetings to analyze the cases. After determining that the DSG problems were not isolated cases and could pose a threat to drivers’ safety, the ministry requested the Volkswagen agent in October last year to recall the cars with flawed DSGs produced between 2006 and last year.
However, the agent only recalled the cars equipped with DQ-200-model DSGs that would switch to limp-home mode when the gearboxes malfunctioned and did not address other issues, forcing the ministry to launch a comprehensive investigation in January last year.
The ministry said that the center has received about a thousand more reports about problems with Volkswagen cars, but the center is still examining if they are all caused by faulty DSGs.
The ministry said that the car manufacturer would be ordered to recall all the affected vehicles if the investigation concludes that there are safety problems which the automaker needs to address.
Based on the Highway Act (公路法), the automaker could be fined between NT$300,000 (US$10,000) and NT$1.5 million if it chooses to ignore such an order. The agent said that it would actively recall the affected cars as long as it is deemed necessary, adding that it respected the ministry’s right to investigate.
However, the agent said that differences of opinions exist between the ministry and itself on the problems with DSGs and whether they are a safety concern.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
RSS