DETROIT — Volkswagen resisted U.S. government efforts to recall more cars and trucks to fix potentially deadly Takata air bags — telling safety regulators that a recall isn’t necessary.

But the German automaker, already in hot water with the government for cheating on U.S. pollution tests, eventually agreed to the recall, according to documents posted Friday on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.

Volkswagen AG is recalling a total of 850,000 Audi and VW vehicles in the U.S. from model years 2006 to 2014. But in a letter to the safety agency, the company said the request to recall most of the Volkswagens “may be overbroad.”

The letter said most VWs and Audis have air bag inflators made at Takata’s factory in Freiberg, Germany, which have not had failures like those made in the U.S. and Mexico.

The letter and lengthy negotiations with the Environmental Protection Agency over how to fix diesel engines that pollute too much show a willingness on Volkswagen’s part to push back against federal agencies when it doesn’t agree. But in the EPA case at least, it’s likely to bring millions of dollars in fines and perhaps even criminal charges filed by the Justice Department.

VW’s letter said both the Mexico and U.S. factories had problems controlling humidity, which has been blamed for causing the inflator failures. But deficiencies at the plants were resolved when a U.S. factory in LaGrange, Ga., closed in 2005 and air conditioning was added to a factory in Monclova, Mexico, in 2011, the letter said.

“Our understanding is that Takata’s Freiberg plant does not suffer from the same deficiencies,” VW wrote in the Feb. 9 letter to NHTSA. The German plant has air conditioning, VW wrote. “We further understand that the Freiberg plant enjoys more consistent personnel, adding to the stability of the product there,” the letter said.

Last month NHTSA pushed VW and five other automakers to recall over 5 million additional vehicles after a Takata air bag inflator exploded in a 2006 Ford Ranger in December, killing a 52-year-old South Carolina man. The agency also cited test results that showed four inflators blew apart in a different model of Takata inflator.

Volkswagen uses inflators like the ones in the Ranger and the ones that failed in testing, according to documents. But VW said it believes testing will vindicate inflators made in Germany and at the Mexican plant after 2011.

Unlike most other air bag makers, Takata uses the chemical ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion and quickly inflate its air bags. But the chemical can deteriorate when exposed for a long time to high temperatures and humidity. If that happens, the chemical can blow apart a metal canister designed to contain the explosion, hurling shrapnel into drivers or passengers. At least 11 people have died worldwide from the problem and 139 have been injured.