Volkswagen restarts Golf deliveries following software issues

Volkswagen has recommenced deliveries of its eighth-generation Golf following a software problem found in May.

The German firm called a halt to deliveries of its latest model following the discovery of an issue with its eCall emergency assist function which caused it to work unreliably. Volkswagen has admitted that around 15,000 of the affected Golfs had been delivered in Germany prior to the issue being detected. The UK had only had a small number delivered in the same time period

The system was made mandatory by the EU for every new car sold since March 2018 and can automatically call emergency services should it detect an accident has occurred and requires assistance.

However, Volkswagen has now announced that a new software update has fixed the issue, while Golfs built in the future will have the latest software installed. A voluntary call will be issued to owners of Golf models which have already been delivered.

The firm issued a statement saying: “As part of internal investigations, we established that in individual Golf Mk 8 vehicles, the software in the online connectivity unit (OCU3) control unit may not reliably transfer data. As a result, full eCall/Emergency Assist functionality cannot be guaranteed.

“As per the applicable EU regulation, new models must feature corresponding emergency call equipment as of 31 March 2018. For this reason, we reacted in order to guarantee full compliance with this regulation.”