Mumbai: The Indian auto industry voluntarily recalled 376,536 vehicles till August 11 this year, compared with 380,615 units in the entire 2020, as it was plagued with both manufacturing and supplier issues.
The number was more than double that in 2019, when the industry saw 159,992 recalls, as per data collated by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the body representing vehicle and engine manufacturers in the country.
Experts attributed the increase to manufacturers getting proactive towards consumer safety, aiming to meet government safety norms. Leading manufacturers such as Hyundai Motor India, Mahindra & Mahindra and Toyota Kirloskar Motor saw recalls this year primarily due to malfunctioning fuel pumps, airbags and quality checks that may have escaped at vendors, incorrect fitment of parts and critical braking issues.
The Indian auto industry saw its highest recalls of 1,000,467 units and 932,449 units in 2015 and 2016 respectively, largely due to technical issues facing General Motors India and Honda Cars India.
Mahindra & Mahindra, which launched its sports utility vehicle (SUV) XUV700 on Saturday, recalled 29,878 units of the Bolero pickup due to a fluid pipe in the engine compartment routed improperly which could lead to fluid leakage. In July, 531 units of the Scorpio M Hawk were recalled due to premature wear of engine while 2,649 units of the new Thar were recalled in February due to an engine camshaft which might have an improper machining condition that escaped quality check at the vendors’ end.
Mahindra & Mahindra did not respond to queries emailed by ET in this regard.
The country’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India, did not have any recall this year, the latest being 40,453 units of the Eeco in November 2020. “Globally, recall of vehicles for correction or checking of defects is prevalent and not unusual. With greater consumer awareness and education, it is viewed as comforting and reassuring that OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are taking proactive steps, demonstrating abundant caution in this regard,” said Shashank Srivastava, executive director, Maruti Suzuki India.
With greater consumer awareness and education, it is viewed as comforting and reassuring that OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are taking proactive steps, demonstrating abundant caution in this regardShashank Srivastava, Maruti Suzuki India
In March, Hyundai Motor India recalled 530 units of the Kona electric vehicle while Toyota Kirloskar Motor recalled 9,498 units of its compact SUV Urban Cruiser during the month.
“In line with the company’s customer first philosophy, we are working to ensure and enhance our product quality across the company, such as R&D (research and development), engineering, manufacturing and quality assurance teams, as well as our supplier and other partners,” said a Toyota Kirloskar Motor spokesperson.
However, Tata Motors has not initiated any recall over the past 24 months. “We are having systematically planned and robustly established built-in quality manufacturing processes to deliver functional, safety and environment parameters consistently in the assembly line. Aligned with the recall policy effective April 1, 2021, we have further strengthened our systems and processes in-house and at supplier partners,” said a company spokesperson.
| Year | Number of vehicles recalled |
| 2012 | 148,847 |
| 2013 | 323,717 |
| 2014 | 280,515 |
| 2015 | 1,000,467 |
| 2016 | 932,449 |
| 2017 | 80,531 |
| 2018 | 138,755 |
| 2019 | 159,992 |
| 2020 | 380,615 |
| 2021 | 376,536 |
Source: SIAM
Under the new recall policy announced by the Central Motor Vehicles (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2021 and the Union road transport and highways ministry from April this year, an automaker needs to mandatorily adhere to quality standards. The maximum penalty an automaker will have to pay in case of a mandatory recall of more than 600,000 two-wheelers, 100,000 four-wheelers and 300,000 three-wheelers is Rs 1 crore. This is limited to vehicles less than seven years old from the date of manufacturing or import, as per the policy.
“Manufacturers have welcomed the recall policy of the government and this policy will make the vehicle manufacturers more serious about their product, and it will help in improving their brand image. In the process the consumer will get a better product,” said Piyush Jain, director, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.
SIAM has been maintaining a voluntary recall information database since 2012, collating all the recalls announced by the automakers.
“This is limited to a batch of 29,878 vehicles and is keeping in line with the company’s customer centric approach,” the company said.
Documents posted Friday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration say that a person inside the trunk could become trapped due to the problem.
