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Volkswagen has recalled nearly 600,000 vehicles from its luxury brand, Audi, for two separate issues.

(File | MLive)

Volkswagen has recalled nearly 600,000 vehicles from its luxury brand, Audi, for two separate issues.

A recall affecting 2013-2017 model year A5, A5 Cabriolet and Q5 SUVs comes due to the risk of an electric coolant pump becoming blocked, causing it to overheat and start a fire. This recall includes 342,867 vehicles.

"Audi has developed software which deactivates the power supply to the coolant pump, if the pump becomes blocked with debris," the automaker says in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents. "The driver will be notified of the blocked coolant pump through the illumination of the Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL). The software update will be performed at no cost to customers."

The other Audi recall includes 234,054 of its 2011-2017 G5 SUVs due to the affected vehicles being prone to sunroof damage that can allow water to soak into foam around the side air bag inflators. If water soaks the foam, the side airbag inflator could rupture and send shrapnel flying inside the vehicles.

VW first investigated the incident in June 2016 in China, and reports that "the production process was modified to include a plastic sleeve over the side head airbag curtain canister."

Neither Audi nor the National Highway Traffic Administration state whether the air bags included in the recall were made by Takata. Both recalls are expected to begin in mid-February.