Gasgoo.com (Shanghai January 4) - New legislation administering automobile recalls officially came into effect this New Year's Day, the Securities Daily reported today.
The new regulations, known as the Provisions on the Administration of Recall of Defective Auto Products, were tested from October to December. During that time, a total of 600,000 automobiles were recalled in China, with monthly recall amounts results over double the figures reported eight years ago. FAW Toyota, Mazda, Zhengzhou Yutong, SAIC Motor and Foton were among the manufacturers which saw their vehicles recalled during the three month time period.
The new policies have forced manufacturers to address potential problems with their vehicles more seriously than before. Manufacturers not issuing recalls promptly risk being fined up to ten percent the retail price of every individual vehicle not recalled. For example, if a manufacturer refuses to recall 1,000 vehicles priced at 100,000 yuan ($15,885) each, it risks having to pay up to ten million yuan. This is an especially significant change for own brand manufacturers, which tend to struggle with increases to production costs.
In the last recall of 2012, truck manufacturer Foton announced that it will recall 357 Auman tractor trailers manufactured between October 2009 to July 2010 due to a design flaw. The recall is already underway as of yesterday.
