SIAM working on an autonomous car recall policy

Recent times have witnessed a number of car manufacturers in India recalling their products for some or the other defect or for a voluntary change of parts. On behalf of the car manufacturers the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers has taken the initiative for framing a voluntary recall policy in order to tackle this issue. According to SIAM’s president S Sandilya, a government policy on recall is missing and therefore SIAM has started working on one for its members. There will be some announcement on the same in the upcoming months. Mr. Sandilya also added that the recall policy is not mandatory at all and is totally in the interest of the manufacturers. This voluntary policy will make the car-makers proactive instead of being reactive. The leading car maker of the country, Maruti Suzuki India recalled around one lakh units of Maruti A-Star in 2009 for replacing the car’s fuel pump gasket that would keep in check the possible fuel leakage.

In November 2010, the Indian auto giant, Tata Motors after looking at a number of Nanos catching fire asked around 70,000 Nano owners to get their cars added with fire-safety devices free-of-cost at the company’s service centers. Last year also, Tata Motors asked around 1.40 lakh (biggest number ever in the history of Indian automobile industry) Nano owners to get the starter motor of their cars changed for absolutely no cost.  And recently the company has also offered to replace a suspension part in the Tata Manza sedan. Last year, the Toyota Kirloskar Motors had recalled around 41,000 units of Etios sedan and Liva hatchback for the purpose of replacing a faulty inlet pipe to the fuel tank. Honda Siel Cars India had announced in September 2011 that it would recall 72,115 Honda City sedans for replacing the defective power window switches. The most recent case of recalling has happened with the German luxury brand BMW. The company announced the recall of 3,422 units of BMW 5- and 6-Series cars in India. The recall purpose was to replace a faulty battery cable cover.