Two automobile giants BMW and Ferrari Maserati will begin recalling some of their vehicles in the Chinese mainland soon, which analysts said demonstrates the companies are paying more attention to the China market.
BMW China will recall 177 imported BMW, 164 Mini Cooper and 73 Rolls-Royce Ghost cars produced between March and August last year due to defective electronic pumps, China's top quality watchdog, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, announced late Friday. The recall will start on April 24.
The recall statement said the electronic pump cases could crack, causing short circuits and pump failures. The defect may even cause fire in some circumstances.
Wang Jing, a public relations executive at BMW, told the Global Times Sunday that authorized dealers will call affected car owners to replace the faulty pumps for free, but she was not certain how long the whole process would take.
Separately, Italian luxury car maker Ferrari Maserati will recall four Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale with four-point seat belts in the mainland from Friday, because the seat belts fail to meet specifications.
"Auto recall is a normal phenomenon for a mature carmaker, which proves that the carmaker is showing its responsibility toward consumers," Chen Guangzu, committee member of the China Auto Industry Consultancy Commission, told the Global Times Sunday.
However, Chen noted that in the recent years the country has seen a rising incidence of car recalls by foreign auto manufacturers, but domestic car manufactures are not very "active" in recalling vehicles.
"Numerous cases of foreign car recalls reflect that China has become a key market for imported cars," said Gu Jin, an analyst with LMC Automotive.
BMW said last week that China overtook the US as its largest single market in the first quarter.
Two years ago, China replaced the US as the world's largest auto market.
Zeng Zhiling, director of Asian Forecasting with consultancy J.D. Power Asia Pacific, echoed Gu's opinion about China's booming imported car market, saying that a car recall, though costly for the manufacturer, is not necessarily a bad thing, since a recall can eliminate possible risks.
"And some domestic carmakers should change their attitude toward recall, because if a quality-related car accident happens, it would endanger the lives of people and also jeopardize the company's reputation," said Zeng.
"The auto industry in China is witnessing fierce competition as every foreign carmaker wants to take a share of the booming market, which forces them to pay more attention to product quality," said Chen.
BMW AG, the world's largest premium car maker, announced last month that it would recall 120,246 BMW vehicles sold in China due to faulty battery cable covers, following a recall of 3,406 Mini Coopers nationwide in January.
Volvo in March said it would recall more than 12,000 cars in China to prevent potential fuel leaks and to fix problematic wiring.
Source:chinesestock