Donfeng Honda to recall over 130 thousand 1.5T CR-Vs

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- The Sino-Japanese automaker Dongfeng Honda filed a plan to China’s State Administration for Market Regulation to recall a total of 130,455 CR-Vs equipped with a 1.5-litre turbo engine.

Reportedly, the automaker submitted the recall plan for the Honda CR-V rising oil level problem, which could illuminate engine warning lights and possibly leads to damaged engines. Dongfeng Honda released a statement promising to replace air condition controller and update FI-ECU (fuel injection electronic control unit) for the recalled vehicles free of charge. As to those CVT (continuously variable transmission)-equipped models, the company will offer the replacement and upgrading of some parts like radiator, TCU (telematics control unit), etc.

The engine issue was first exposed in December 2017 by a car owner on Internet. Then, under the pressure of increasingly complaints from CR-V and Civic owners and massive reports, Dongfeng Honda hold a press conference in January this year, saying the company would try its best to give an official solution before February, 2018.

Although the automaker guaranteed a 6-year warranty period and 200,000km of warranty range in February, it didn’t acknowledge the engine defect and explain the reason resulting in rising oil level problem.

The CR-V quality issue raised the attention of Chinese regulators as well. On March 1, the AQSIQ (General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine) questioned some executives of Dongfeng Honda in terms of the CR-V's “rising oil level problem”. Meanwhile, the AQSIO urged the automaker to attach importance to consumers’ complaints and solve the vehicle defects in accordance with laws. Dongfeng Honda claimed on the next day that it has halted the sales of all-new 1.5 T CR-Vs and promised to deliver a further solution.

Affected by the quality issue, Dongfeng Honda suffered a substantial sales drop this year. According to official sales data, the automaker delivered a total of 176,700 vehicles in the first four months, declining 9.8% year on year. In April, its monthly sales suffered a year-on-year downturn of 12.2% to 47,900 units.