German automaker Volkswagen will recall more than a million cars in China and the United States due to a defect in the rear axles, a company spokesman said.

The company’s US unit informed the National Highway Transport Safety Administration that it would recall more than 400,000 Jetta sedan models and nearly 42,000 Beetle cars manufactured between 2011 and 2013, the spokesman stated.

Volkswagen told China’s quality watchdog that it planned to recall more than 580,000 cars in the country, after the agency launched an investigation in August.

Volkswagen’s joint venture in China, FAW-Volkswagen Automobile, will recall 563,605 New Sagitar models produced between May 2011 and May 2014 due to a problem with the rear axle arm of the cars, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement on its web site.

“In case of an accident, the axle could be damaged. The axle is secure but we are recalling the vehicles because we cannot be absolutely sure that all our customers will go to a repair shop if an axle is damaged,” he said.

Volkswagen and joint venture p[artner China FAW Group Corp — has offered to “place a metal plate in the trailing arm of the rear axles to ensure the proper operation of the vehicles in case of a rupture”, it added.

Volkswagen, which has operated in China since the 1980s, delivered over 2.7 million vehicles to Chinese customers during the first nine months, up 15.2 percent from a year earlier and outpacing industry growth of 7 percent

China is the world’s largest car market and is crucial for foreign automakers as sales elsewhere have slowed due to sluggishness in the global economy.

The country’s auto sales surged 13.9 percent to 21.98 million vehicles last year.

Last week, among agreements signed during a visit by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to Germany, Volkswagen extended its joint venture with FAW until 2041.

Last year, Volkswagen recalled 384,181 vehicles in China to fix a gearbox problem after the German carmaker was named in an annual investigative special on corporate malpractice produced by state-run China Central Television.