In what could it be its biggest product recall, German automaker Volkswagen is set to withdraw a whopping 2.64 million cars worldwide to fix a number of problems that came with a number of different models. The biggest recall was in China at 640,309 cars and minivans.

Volkswagen said on Thursday the problems varied from leaky fuel pipes, faulty lighting and incorrect gear oil.

"This isn't a VW-specific problem, it's one of the things that happen at mass-market carmakers," analyst Frank Schwope told Businessweek. "Costs will probably be in the high double-digit or even triple-digit million-euro range. They might be partly shared with suppliers involved, but they still make VW's full-year earnings target more difficult to reach."

Residents push a Volkswagen Beetle car into their home as they clean up the debris around their community after the Super typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city in central Philippines November 14, 2013. Philippine President Benigno Aquino was under growing pressure on Thursday to speed up the distribution of food, water and medicine to desperate survivors of a powerful typhoon and to get paralysed local governments functioning. REUTERS/Edgar Su

The recall affects

  • 1.6 million VW, Audi, Skoda and Seat brand vehicles for possible gearbox issues
  • 800,000 Tiguan compact SUVs for lighting failures
  • 239,000 pickup trucks

"This is a big recall for sheer volumes of cars," Chas Hallett, editor in chief of What Car? told Sky News.

"But recalls happen all the time in the car industry and they're always done for safety or reliability issues."

The logo of German carmaker Volkswagen is seen at a VW dealership in Hamburg, October 28, 2013. Volkswagen is due to present company results on Wednesday. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer

China's Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine told China car drivers Volkswagen will replace oil in their transmissions that might cause an electrical problem. The synthetic oil will be replaced with mineral oil at no charge to owners.

"Carmakers riding on strong growth like VW must be terribly careful that they don't pay dearly for that growth by conceding losses on quality," Stefan Bratzel, head of the Center of Automotive Management, told Reuters.

This is the second time Volkswagen is recalling vehicles from China. In March, it called 384,181 there after complaints about vibrations, loss of power and sudden acceleration in models were reported on state television.