In recent weeks, Volkswagen has recalled over 500,000 vehicles from its brands in the US. The latest round came on Tuesday after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) discovered a software bug affecting the rearview cameras of Volkswagen and Audi vehicles. As a result, the carmaker announced a recall of around 356,649 vehicles across model years 2019 to 2026.
Just a week earlier, Porsche — another brand under the Volkswagen Group —announced a recall of 173,538 vehicles over similar issues. All together, the recalls suggest the problem may be more widespread across the group’s line up.
The recalls stem from violations of rear-visibility safety standards, which require all vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less in the US to be equipped with a functioning rear-view camera when reversing. Dealers are expected to roll out a free software update, while the NHTSA plans to notify affected owners by mail in the coming weeks.
Backup cameras became mandatory in 2018, reducing low-speed reversing accidents. But Volkswagen’s recall isn’t an isolated case, last year, the NHTSA issued similar recalls for Hyundai, Ford, Toyota, and Chrysler. Software bugs are no longer minor annoyances. They can directly undermine safety features we depend on every day.
Software bugs in these systems can undermine the very protections they are meant to provide, from basic visibility to advanced driver-assistance features. With backup cameras now a regulatory requirement, reliability is no longer optional.
For Volkswagen, the scale of the recalls is significant. The number of affected vehicles nearly matches the company’s US sales over the past two years — about 380,000 units in 2024 and 330,000 in 2023. For car owners, it could also mean waiting weeks before receiving a fix.
The Volkswagen recalls highlight a broader shift in the auto industry, where software features increasingly shape safety, driving experience, and performance. As vehicles become more software-defined, carmakers face growing pressure to reduce software malfunctions that can ripple across entire model lineups.
Emmanuel Oyedeji
