- Title: INDIA: India's Maruti recalls A-Star car on fuel leak
- Date: 24th February 2010
- Summary: NEW DELHI, INDIA (FEBRUARY 23, 2010) (ANI) VARIOUS OF DILIP CHENOY, DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE SOCIETY OF INDIAN AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERS (SIAM) SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (English) DILIP CHENOY, DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE SOCIETY OF INDIAN AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERS (SIAM), SAYING: "They have not taken (the vehicles) off the market, they have recalled the vehicle. Recall is a normal practice in the automobile industry. It is happening not the first time to Maruti. Earlier also there have been different types of recalls. This recall is actually because they have found something defective, therefore, they have recalled the cars to replace the defective part." GURGAON, INDIA (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (FILE) (ANI) VARIOUS OF SHOP FLOOR OF MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA PLANT MARUTI CARS BEING ASSEMBLED IN THE FACTORY MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA (FEBRUARY 23, 2010) (ANI) VARIOUS OF MECHANIC CHECKING THE ENGINE OF A MARUTI A-STAR CAR CLOSE OF ENGINE VARIOUS OF CAR LOGO MECHANICS AT THE WORKSHOP (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) MAHESH, A CAR MECHANIC AT A SHOWROOM IN MUMBAI, SAYING: "The lot we have received now, does not have such major problem but the previous lot had many problems like inadequate fuel pressure and many other problems." A WOMAN STANDING BESIDE HER A-STAR CAR VARIOUS OF INTERIOR SHOTS OF CAR CLOSE OF SPEEDOMETER VARIOUS OF WOMAN ENTERING THE CAR AND DRIVING AWAY
- Embargoed: 11th March 2010 14:46
- Keywords:
- Location: India
- Country: India
- Topics: Industry
- Reuters ID: LVA9G585BX2IB44OTP5ZTS7Z01CQ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: India's top carmaker Maruti Suzuki is recalling 100,000 of its A-Star hatchbacks due to a fuel leak, potentially undermining future sales of the popular vehicle.
India's top carmaker Maruti Suzuki India, 54 percent owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor, said on Tuesday (February 23) it is recalling 100,000 of its A-Star hatchbacks to fix a possible fuel leak.
Maruti's move comes as Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp is embroiled in a recall of 8.5 million vehicles globally for problems including sticky accelerators and a braking glitch on its hybrid models.
The recall of Maruti's popular model, which is exported to Europe, began in November and is about half complete. It will cost less than 100 million rupees ($2.2 million), the company said.
"They have not taken (the vehicles) off the market, they have recalled the vehicle. Recall is a normal practice in the automobile industry. It is happening not the first time to Maruti. Earlier also there have been different types of recalls. This recall is actually because they have found something defective, therefore, they have recalled the cars to replace the defective part," said Dilip Chenoy, Director General of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
Maruti said it had not received any customer complaints but its shares closed down 3.2 percent at 1,336.85 rupees in a Mumbai market that rose 0.3 percent.
The recall includes cars sold in Europe through a tie-up with Japan's Nissan Motor Corp under Nissan's Pixo name, a Maruti company source said, declining to be identified.
A spokesman for Nissan in India could not immediately be reached for comment.
The A-Star's export markets include Germany, Britain and France. It sells for about 400,000 rupees in India and 6,500 to 7,500 euros in Europe.
A spokesman for the carmaker said that the appropriate regulatory authorities in Europe were informed last year about the recall, but the recall was not disclosed in India.
An internal analysis had shown that when fuel was filled beyond a certain point, there was a possibility of leakage, the spokesman said.
In India there is no law of highway safety or any regulatory authority which requires them to make such disclosures, analyst with IHS GlobalInsight, Deepesh Rathore, told Reuters.
He said that since no actual accidents have happened, he did not expect substantial damage to be done to Maruti's image.
Maruti's Chief Financial Officer Ajay Seth said that adequate provisioning had been made for the recall in the December quarter earnings, announced on Jan. 23.
The final cost for replacing the faulty gasket, which leads to the potential leakage problem, would be shared with the supplier, Maruti said in a statement.
The recalled vehicles were part of a batch made up to Aug. 22 last year, the spokesman said.
Between January and December last year, the company exported about 100,000 A-Stars, a model first launched in India in late 2008. It sells 3,500 to 4,000 A-stars a month in India.
"The lot we have received now, does not have such major problem but the previous lot had many problems like inadequate fuel pressure and many other problems," noted Mahesh, a technician at a showroom in Mumbai.
Maruti is on track to hit annual sales of 1 million cars in the current financial year thatin March. - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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