Mercedes-Benz issues recall for 40,000 cars

The luxury German brand has a super hi-tech way of fixing the latest issue affecting nearly every model sold in a two-year period.

Mercedes-Benz has issued a recall for nearly every model sold in Australia.

The recall encompasses almost 40,000 vehicles sold between 2018 and 2020 from the small A-Class hatchback to the ultra luxurious Maybach S650 and high-performance AMG GT. It centres on a software issue that affects the brand’s emergency call technology.

Nearly every vehicle in Mercedes-Benz’s local range was affected.

The safety technology will automatically call the Mercedes-Benz emergency response centre in the case of an accident involving the deployment of airbags or the belt tensioners.

It provides the response centre with your precise position, the number of occupants and information about the vehicle conditions.

In serious cases, the data is passed on to a public emergency centre, so that the necessary rescue operation can be initiated promptly.

The emergency call feature can alert emergency service in case of a serious accident.

The software problem identified in the recall notice can render the automatic and manual emergency call functions unavailable.

According to the recall notice issued by the Federal Government’s Department of Infrastructure this could delay the direction of emergency vehicles to the scene of an accident, which could lead to an increased risk of death if a serious injury has occurred.

Mercedes-Benz will use a hi-tech method to fix the issue, which won’t require owners to visit a dealership to fix the issue.

Mercedes will fix the issue via an over the air update.

Instead owners will be able to update the software over the air in the same way smartphone users update their software.

Mercedes-Benz says owners will not be charged for the fix or any associated data usage.