With the serious faults seeping into its cars of late, the Indian unit of Toyota Motor Corporation has announced to recall 40,000 units of Etios and Liva. Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited (TKMPL) however said that it is a proactive approach and not a recall. The sedan Etios and hatchback Liva manufactured till 8th October 2011 will be inspected for the cracks found in the hose pipe and the fuel pipe.
The Deputy Managing Director, marketing, TKM, Sandeep Singh, said that “we noticed the fault on our own and as a precautionary step, we are voluntarily inspecting the cars.” He also said that the fault does not pose any threat but the cracks might lead to the leakage of fuel when the tank is full. The customers are called by the dealers to get the filler hose replaced which will not take more than 30 to 45 minutes. Singh also said, the company is not in a hurry to complete this task but can inspect the cars whenever customers visit the showrooms. He further said that social media such as company's website or Facebook are also used for informing customers.
The Etios sedan was launched in December last year and was priced between Rs. 4.96 lacs and Rs 6.86 lacs. Liva was launched this year in June and was priced between Rs. 3.99 lacs and Rs. 5.99 lacs. Both the cars surged the local sales of the company as the diesel and gasoline version of the cars were highly demanded. Growth of 89% recorded in April to November, 2011, to 92,546 vehicles is mainly credited to the sales of Etios and Liva.
Earlier in the year 2008 also, Toyota had recalled around 20,000 units of Innova. This multi utility vehicle was found with a defective part that led to leakage of oil. Though global recall crisis hit Toyota in 2010, its sales were not affected in the Indian market.
More than 100,000 units of A-Star were recalled by Maruti Suzuki India Limited in February 2010 due to the defect in the fuel tank. Moreover, in April 2011, 13,157 units of diesel cars manufactured between 13th November and 4th December 2010 were recalled to inspect defective parts.
One of India's biggest auto makers by revenue, Tata Motors Limited introduced additional safety equipment in Nano during November last year. This initiative was taken due to the incidents wherein Nano cars caught fire.
This year in September, Honda Siel Cars India also announced a major recall to replace power window switches of 72,115 City sedans that were manufactured between 2005 and 2007.
Thus, recalling has been an inseparable part of the auto industry and car makers do not think twice before taking such moves.
