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Volkswagen recalls 22,000 cars in Switzerland

German car manufacturer Volkswagen is recalling 22,000 vehicles because of a fault with their ABS braking system, according to reports.

Published: 6 July 2017 10:58 CEST

Volkswagen recalls 22,000 cars in Switzerland

Photo: Ronny Hartmann/AFP

A VW spokesperson confirmed the news to Swiss daily Blick, saying affected customers will be notified by July 17th.

The faulty vehicles are the VW Golf and Jetta, the Audi A3 and the Skoda Octavia series dating from 2008 and 2009.

According to Blick the ABS system does not function properly when the driver brakes hard, during an emergency stop.

A software update can fix the problem.

Earlier this year the VW group recalled over 130,000 vehicles in the US due to an ABS problem.

And on July 1st Reuters reported that the group was recalling 385,000 cars in Germany for the same reason.

This latest embarrassment for Volkswagen comes after the emissions scandal in 2015 in which millions of diesel vehicles were found to have cheated emissions tests.

More than 11 million vehicles worldwide were fitted with software that could 'cheat' the tests, including more than 128,000 in Switzerland.

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Two hospitalized in Munich after activist crashes parachute into Euro 2020 stadium

The activist lands on the turf of the Allianz Arena. credit: dpa | Christian Charisius

The pilot flew over the pitch just before kick-off in the Group F clash with “Kick out oil” written on the canopy of his parachute.

However, when the pilot hit television cables above the pitch, it knocked his microlight off balance and he landed on the turf after clipping one of the stands, where the casualties happened.

The activist was arrested soon after landing.

A Munich police spokesman told AFP that at least two people suffered head injuries and “both had to be taken to hospital, we don’t know yet how serious the injuries are”.

The police spokesman said the activist appears to have escaped injury, but “we are considering various criminal charges. Munich police has zero understanding for political actions that put lives at risk”.

UEFA also slammed the botched stunt.

“This inconsiderate act – which could have had very serious consequences for a huge number of people attending – caused injuries to several people attending the game who are now in hospital and law authorities will take the necessary action,” European football’s governing body said in a statement.

The parachutist above the stadium. Photo: dpa | Matthias Balk

“The staging of the match was fortunately not impacted by such a reckless and dangerous action, but several people were injured nonetheless.”

The stunt was a protest against German car manufacturer Volkswagen, one of the sponsors of the European Championship, Greenpeace explained in a Twitter post.

“UEFA and its partners are fully committed to a sustainable Euro 2020 tournament and many initiatives have been implemented to offset carbon emissions,” said UEFA.

Greenpeace said they regretted any harm caused.

“This protest was never intended to disrupt the game or hurt people,” read a Twitter post on Greenpeace’s official German account.

“We hope that everyone is OK and that no one was seriously injured. Greenpeace actions are always peaceful and non-violent.”

“Unfortunately, not everything went according to plan.”

READ MORE: Climate activists rage as Germany opts for drawn-out coal exit

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