Voluntary Auto Recalls Now Common in India

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General Motors India Recalls 1.14 lakh Units of Tavera

In one of the largest vehicle recalls in India, General Motors has announced the callback of 1.14 lakh Chevrolet Taveras manufactured between 2005 and 2013 to address emissions and specification issues.

INDIACSR News Network

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NEW DELHI: As part of its commitment towards quality and Customer satisfaction, an American carmaker General Motors India (GMI) on July 24, 2013 announced a voluntary recall on the Chevrolet Tavera BS3 (2.5L variant) and BS4 (2.0L variant) from model years 2005-2013 to address potential emissions and specification issues.

The vehicles, sold between 2005 and 2013, have been recalled due to “an emissions issue involving the Tavera BS3 and an issue with the Tavera BS4 meeting certain specifications”, a statement said.

“The issues are not safety-related,” company said.

“The GMI and the Dealer customer care teams shall notify Tavera customers how and when to bring in their vehicles for service. The recall repair shall be performed free of charge.” it added.

GMI has recalled two variants of the multi-purpose vehicle, production and sales of which have already been stopped because of these issues.

It said the Indian authorities have been informed about the issues and that they are not related to safety of the vehicles.

This is the ninth vehicle recall in the country in the past one year. US auto giant Ford announced last August that it was recalling at least 111,000 vehicles in India to check for potentially faulty parts that could cause breakdowns or fires.

GM said it will replace the faulty component free of charge and has informed its 280 dealers about the same. The company will also notify customers separately how and when to bring in their vehicles for service.

The carmaker claims that it has since identified a solution to the issues and performed the required engineering validation, and is awaiting regulatory approvals in the country.

“After the proposed solution receives approval from authorities, GMI will resume Tavera production and sale, and move forward with its recall and customer notification plan for both the BS3 and BS4 models,” it said in the statement.

Meanwhile, the road ministry has formed a panel to probe into the recall by General Motors India for violation of emission norms and it will decide if any penal action would be taken against the company. “The committee will find out how it happened when there are standard emission norms specified in detail by the government,” said a ministry official, according to news agencies .

General Motors India had also suspended production of diesel variants of Sail hatchback and sedan versions on issues of quality. There could be a recall of the model in the near future as the company is still investigating the issue and the number of vehicles affected by the quality issue.

GM said it will resume production of Sail diesel variants by the end of this month, while Tavera BS III is expected to roll out by the end of August. There have been a number of vehicle recalls in the country in recent times.

Voluntary Auto Recalls

A ‘voluntary recall code’ was adopted by governing body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in July 2012. Several leading auto companies in India including Ford Motor Co., Honda Motor Co., Yamaha Motor Co. and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. have announced voluntarily recalls of their vehicles in the past year. Over the years, several global auto manufacturers have announced recalls for their specific models of vehicles. It is expected that other manufacturers  are yet to recall any of their models under the code.

Major Voluntary Recall by Leading Auto Companies in India:

Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd

Ford Motor Co

Honda Cars India Ltd

Yamaha Motor Co

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd

Maruti Suzuki India

Renault India Pvt. Ltd

India 3rd Largest Auto Market by 2016

According to a report published by IHS automotive, a global research firm, India will come up as the third largest auto market in the world by the end of 2016. Backed by strong domestic sales, India is expected to come ahead of Japan, Germany and Brazil. It must be noted that the vulnerability to economic growth and lower buyers’ sentiment ended up with a slowdown in the market in 2012 and 2013; however, the country is anticipated to follow a strong growth trend from 2014.

During 2012, China, US, Japan, Brazil and Germany were ranked the top five global auto markets, which was then followed by India at sixth position. Betting high on the Indian auto market in the long term, IHS said, “Investment reform policy will induce better environment for domestic and foreign enterprises. India light vehicle production (is) expected to reach 7 million by 2020.”