Since quite some time, General Motors India is trying to get the production of its best sellers in the country, back on line. The company had spotted a quality issue with its Sail sedan and UVA hatchback. The company also spotted some emission problems with the Tavera BS III. Now it has been revealed that GM India has recalled 1.14 lac units of Tavera BS III and BS IV together, sold between 2005 and 2013.
The production of Sail has stopped on the 5th of June while the company stopped with Tavera BS III on the 6th of June. Vice President of General Motors India, Mr. P Balendran had said that “As part of General Motors’ stringent manufacturing and quality control processes, we have identified a potential emissions performance issue with the Chevrolet Tavera BS-III and a quality issue with the Chevrolet Sail HB & NB Diesel variant. Neither issue is safety-related. Since GM is committed to product excellence, we have temporarily suspended production of these vehicles.”
The company had clearly mentioned that the BS IV Tavera is not affected and it will continue with its sale and production. But again in July, the company spotted some specification related issue with the Tavera BS IV diesel variant. The production of Tavera BS IV, thus, came to a halt on 2nd July. The company has already informed the government officials regarding these issues and has already chalked out a recall plan. A company official said that “General Motors India (GMI)… is voluntarily recalling the Chevrolet Tavera BS3 (2.5L variant) and BS4 (2.0L variant) from model years 2005-2013 to address emissions and specification issues.”
A recall of 1.14 lac units is probably the biggest in India so far. The Managing director and President of GM India, Lowell Paddock said that “Our customers are at the centre of everything we do. Exceeding their expectations begins with designing, building and selling the world s best vehicles that endure over time.”
Recently it was revealed that GM India will resume the production of its Sail sedan and hatchback diesel variant by the end of July while Tavera BS III will be resumed by the end of August. GM is still investigating about the Sedan Sail and may opt for a recall if required.
The company has said that they have found a solution to solve the emission and specification problem related to Tavera model and the governing bodies have been notified about the same. The solution requires to be validated and approved by the government. The company said that “After the proposed solution receives approval from authorities, General Motors will resume Tavera production and sale, and move forward with its recall and customer notification plan for both the BSIII and BSIV models.”
The customers of these 1.14 lac vehicles will be notified by the company and the cars will be repaired free of cost at GM India’s 280 dealerships all across the nation.
This is not the first time that a company has recalled a product on such a large scale. This policy to recall faulty products voluntarily from the market was made by SIAM. . Till then 2 lac units of cars have been recalled by various automobile companies. Maruti Suzuki had recalled 1 lac units of its A model to solve a problem with the fuel pumps. Ford has also recalled 972 units of its star car, EcoSport. Recently Yamaha has announced that it will recall around 56,082 units of its Ray scooters due to a handle bar issue.
This recall policy was heavily criticized in the past but now it is being widely accepted as the manufacturers have understood that customer satisfaction is the top most criteria if they want to stay in the market in the long run.
