China recalls over 1.5 mln vehicles in four years

Shanghai, September 27 (Gasgoo.com) Since China's vehicle recall policy took effect four year ago, carmakers in the country have recalled their defective vehicles over 120 times, involving a total of 1,546,600 units, said the Shanghai Securities News today.

The Chinese government issued the "Regulations for the Administration of the Recall of Defective Automobile Products" on March 2004 and started to implement this policy on October 1 of the same year. The automobile industry is the first in China to pilot a defective product recall system.

According to the regulations, a consumer or vehicle owner has the right to report or lodge a complaint about a car defect to the relevant government authorities, manufacturer, seller, car rental company or importer. Suggestions can also be made to the authorities concerned to start investigations relating to the recall of defective automobiles. Vehicle owners should actively cooperate with manufacturers in facilitating a recall.

A quality control executive of Shanghai GM said that the implementation of the recall policy has helped China's carmakers to develop and compete better with global companies, and more importantly it has urged car manufacturers in China to ensure the public health, public safety and public benefits. Since October 1, 2004, Shanghai GM has recalled 48,403 units of its vehicles over seven times.

The policy requires that vehicle owners should actively cooperate with manufacturers in facilitating a recall. "Consumers' proper understanding of the vehicle recall has guaranteed the smooth implementation of the recall system," said an official from China's quality control authorities.

But it's also undeniable that the recall policy has some negative impact on China's local auto industry in the short run, said an industry expert. "Because local Chinese vehicles and their components are of relatively low quality and therefore will more likely incur large recall risks."

After being upgraded in the near future, the vehicle recall regulations are expected to be incorporated into China's relevant law, and will gain more legal validity as far as penalty and compensation are concerned.