Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021-2024 ID.4 vehicles. The door handles may allow water to enter the circuit board assembly, which can cause the doors to open unexpectedly. This is according to documents made public today by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which had been investigating the safety defect on ~100,000 ID.4’s. The recall population was determined by production records starting from Start of Production of the ID.4 for the U.S. market in the Zwickau (Germany) and the Chattanooga (U.S.) production plant until the current end of Production in both plants for the U.S. market. The part came from U-Shin Mexico.
The affected vehicles may have been built with door handles that do not meet the factory specifications for protection against water ingress. Water ingress into the printed circuit board can lead to malfunctions causing an “open command” – signaling an open command by the door handle when the handle is not being activated by a person. An open door on a moving vehicle puts occupants at risk of injury, and can cause damage to objects and people who may be outside of the vehicle. If the recall problem is present in the vehicle, occupants may notice an audible clicking noise , similar to the sound of a vehicle door being locked/unlocked by the key fob. The planned recall remedy and series production countermeasures are still under development. It is not corrected yet in production. Continue reading






Stellantis to Invest +$406M in Three Michigan Plants for EVs
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Stellantis (NYSE: STLA) in Amsterdam today announced it is investing more than $406 million in three Michigan facilities to support its multi-energy strategy.* It confirmed that the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP) will be the Company’s first U.S. plant to build a fully electric vehicle. The Ram 1500 REV electric light-duty pickup truck (BEV) will launch in late 2024. The range-extended all-new 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger will be built alongside internal combustion engine (ICE) models in Sterling Heights. Additional investments will be made to retool the Warren Truck Assembly Plant for production of a future electrified Jeep® Wagoneer, and the Dundee Engine Plant for battery tray production and beam machining for the STLA Frame architecture and STLA Large batteries.
“Sterling Heights Assembly has performed an incredible transformation in record time and I want to thank our colleagues for this great achievement,” said Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares. “Gearing up to build our first-ever Ram electric truck and the range-extended version in Michigan is a meaningful moment of pride for our teams. With these investments supporting both Jeep and Ram, we’re adding innovations to our Michigan manufacturing footprint to support a multi-energy approach that is laser-focused on customer demand.”** Continue reading →