General Motors, the well known American auto maker, announced an official recall of 4,000 units of its Sail diesel, citing potential glitch in the engine as a reason. Sources close to the development process have revealed that this recall will affect 2,910 units of the Sail sedan and 1,090 units of its hatchback sibling. It must be noted that the auto maker recently recalled 1.14 lakh units of its Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) Tavera in July 2013, regarding some emission issues.
However, senior officials of General Motors India said that the latest issue is not related with the recall of Tavera. On this development, the Vice President for General Motors India, P Balendran was quoted as saying, “Our customers are at the centre of everything we do... Quality is our highest priority. However, if there is an issue, we ensure that it is corrected as soon as possible as part of our complete commitment to customer satisfaction"
According to him, the recall has been announced to fix a glitch at the crankshaft hub bolt, which can adversely affect the performance of car's 1.3-litre diesel engine. Reportedly, the auto maker restarted the manufacturing and sales of diesel variants of Chevrolet Sail, which were earlier stopped on June 3 owing to some engine problem. "The company is notifying customers individually how and when to bring in their vehicles for inspection. The affected vehicles will be repaired free of charge at GMI's 278 service centres across the country," Balendran added later.
Interestingly, the auto maker did not specified the date of manufacturing of the Sail model, which falls under the recent recall. It must be noted that the hatchback model of Sail was introduced in November 2012, whereas, its dean guise was offered in February this year. Industry experts are of a view that recall has been the latest in news by different auto makers in the Indian auto market after the industry body Society of Indian Automobiles Manufacturers (SIAM) declared a voluntary recall based on safety in July last year. Figures state that more than 3 lakh automobile units have been recalled so far by a number of auto companies, which include the likes of Ford, Toyota, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nissan, Renault and Yamaha.
