 "The logo of Maruti Suzuki India Limited is seen on a glass door at a showroom in New Delhi")
Indian automobile industry has announced a flurry of recalls in the recent past, with numbers suggesting that almost one out of every four cars sold here is being recalled to fix a manufacturing defect.
To put things in perspective, over 2.2 million vehicles were voluntarily recalled in the last four years, while 2.78 million passenger vehicles were sold in the last financial year.
Here’s a list of top five car recalls in the country and the reason behind the same.
Volkswagen
Volkswagen, in December 2015, recalled over three lakh cars, making this the biggest in India. The automobile firm recalled 3,23,700 units. In addition to this, 1,98,500 cars from Volkswagen brand, 88,700 cars from Skoda and 36,500 cars from Audi were a part of the recall.
The reason: Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) found diesel cars manufactured in India by Volkswagen from the EA189 engine family to be fitted with the “defeat device”, which led to excess emission of nitrogen oxide (Nox).
The 11 cars tested earlier by the ARAI, which included the Jetta, Vento, Octavia, Audi A4 and A6, were found to be emitting up to nine times more Nox than levels tested during the approval stage. The recalled vehicles have 1.2, 1.5, 1.6 and 2 litre diesel engines.
Maruti Suzuki
The country’s largest carmaker recalled two of its top selling cars - Baleno and Swift DZire on the back of faulty airbag controller software and faulty fuel filters. Over 75,000 units of Baleno were recalled, while 1,961 units of its popular sedan DZire were recalled for inspection and replacement of a faulty fuel filter. A few weeks ago, the company had announced undertaking of a service campaign to inspect a suspected fault and replace a brake part in over 20,000 units of S-Cross. The faulty part was found in units made between April 20,2015 and February 12,2016.
In April 2014, in one of the biggest vehicle recalls, Maruti Suzuki India had recalled 1,03,311 units of its popular models -Ertiga, Swift and DZire - manufactured between November 12, 2013 and February 4, 2014 to replace faulty fuel filler neck.
Later that year, it announced a recall of 69,555 units of the Dzire, Swift and Ritz models to rectify possible issues with the routing of the wiring harness that connects to the battery.
Honda
Honda Cars India (HCIL), in September 2015, recalled over 2,23,000 units of its premium sport utility vehicles — CR-V, sedans Civic, City, and hatchback Jazz manufactured between 2003 and 2012 — to replace faulty airbag inflators.
It also recalled 3,879 units of a particular variant of its popular sedan City in November. It was carried out to update a piece of software for the transmission system, as part of a global exercise.
Ford
In May 2016, the company recalled over 48,000 units of its SUV Ecosport. The company called back 48,700 units to rectify faulty fuel and brake lines and rear seat backrest.
In September 2013, Ford India recalled over 1,60,000 units of premium hatchback Figo and sedan Classic to rectify problems related to steering and rear suspension.
Ford recalled some similar models back in July 2012 to look into potential problems with their rear twist beam and the power steering hose. A potential crack in the rear twist beam in Figo and Classic cars manufactured between January 2008 and December 2010 could lead to the car being inoperable if initial noise symptoms were ignored, Ford had said in a statement.
General Motors
In July 2013, automotive major General Motors recalled 1,14,000 units of Tavera over issues related to emissions and regulatory standards. There were allegations that GM officials had in connivance with authorities fudged statutory emission tests.
A state-appointed panel later called it a corporate fraud and indicted the top management of the company.
