Chang'an Suzuki Automobile Co., the Sino-Japanese minicar joint venture, announced yesterday it will recall 157,480 Alto cars due to potential fuel line problems. The recall is the largest ever in China in terms of the number of affected vehicles.

China will officially implement its new vehicle recall regulations on October 1. The regulations were initially issued on March 15.

The affected Altos, equipped with electronic fuel injection systems, were produced from September 4, 1999 to March 26, 2004, according to Chang'an Suzuki, which is based in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

Fuel lines in the cars may be abraded under strong vibration. "Any owners of the affected Altos have their vehicles checked and repaired free of charge at Chang'an Suzuki's service centers between September 9, 2004 and March 31, 2005," the company announced.

The JV, 51 percent owned by the Shenzhen-listed Chang'an Automobile Co., in partnership with Japan's Suzuki Motor and Sojitz Corp., has submitted its recall plan to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

No problems have been reported by owners so far, the company said.

Chang'an Suzuki is the third carmaker in China to conduct a recall since the new regulations were issued.

FAW Car Co., the Shenzhen-listed arm of First Automotive Works Corp. and one of China's biggest automakers, recalled 30,000 Mazda 6 sedans in June.

Guangzhou Honda, the joint venture between Japan's Honda Motor and Guangzhou Automobile Group, recalled more than 70,000 Accord sedans, also in June.

Toyota Motor Corp. recalled 1,489 Lexus sedans in July, and at the end of August the company. recalled 2,339 Land Cruiser Prado SUVs sold in China.

Last week, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp recalled 7,802 medium and heavy-duty trucks that were exported to China.

Automobile recalls are new to customers and manufacturers in this country, although it is a common practice in developed markets. In the past, many manufacturers avoided recalling their faulty vehicles because there were no regulations addressing the matter.

The rapid growth in the number cars produced and sold in China means that recalls, which can prove costly to manufacturers, are likely to increase.

Forecasts put the number of vehicles sold in China at 10 million by 2010, more than double the 2003 figure of 4.5 million.

During the first seven months of this year, sales of China-made vehicles jumped 21 percent year-on-year to 2.9 million units.

Chang'an Suzuki, which also produces the Lingyang compact sedan, expects to bring its annual production capacity to 200,000 units by the end of this year. The company plans to introduce at least one new model every year for the next three years.

It has produced more than 400,000 vehicles since starting operations 10 years ago.

(China Daily September 9, 2004)