VW Recalls 2.6m Cars Worldwide Over Faults

Volkswagen (LSE: 50IT.L - news) is to recall 2.6 million cars worldwide due to various technical problems.

The German car giant, Europe's biggest car company, said potential faults have been found in different models.

The problems ranged from faulty lighting, leaky fuel pipes and incorrect gear oil, a spokesman said.

The recall includes 800,000 Tiguans built between 2008 and 2011.

The company said an electrical fuse failure may cause lighting failures on several different circuits.

Reports indicate that a further 1.6 million cars and vans are to be recalled over drive train issues.

What Car? editor in chief Chas Hallett told Sky News: "This is a big recall for sheer volumes of cars.

"But recalls happen all the time in the car industry and they're always done for safety or reliability issues."

VW is to replace the hi-tech synthetic oil used in dual-clutch gearboxes with traditional mineral oil.

It found that drives used in hot and humid areas such as in China and South East Asia (Frankfurt: R1E.F - news) are susceptible to electrical faults in stop-start traffic.

As a result, VW issued a global voluntary recall for all cars fitted with the seven-speed drives.

VW said: "To continue to ensure customer satisfaction ... Volkswagen has decided to launch global voluntary campaign.

"And to request all customers with a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox (DQ200) filled with synthetic oil to visit a workshop for an oil exchange."

Around 250,000 pickups are also being recalled for repairs to the fuel system to prevent leaks.

Mr Hallett added: "In the end it won't harm Volkswagen and if you're an owner of one of the cars as long as you get the work done as soon as possible there's nothing to worry about."