India’s largest auto manufacturing company Maruti Suzuki has recalled 17,362 units of its cars after a defect in the airbags of the cars has been reported. Based on the report of exchange filling the affected car models were manufactured between December 8th to January 12th of 2023, and the models include Alto K-10, Espresso, Grand Vitara, Brezza, and Nexa’s Baleno.
The company further said the possible defect in case of an accident can bring a huge problem in the working of seat belt pre-tensioner and airbag. The company has advised its customers that until the defective parts aren’t being replaced, they must not drive the vehicle, and have asked them to consult the company’s authorized workshop and get their parts replaced without having to pay any penny.
Earlier, the company had recalled a total of 9,125 vehicles manufactured between 2-28 November 2022. These models included the Ciaz, Brezza, Ertiga, XL6, and Grand Vitara. The company had said in the stock exchange filing that the replacement of the faulty part will be done absolutely free of cost.
While, last year, Maruti Suzuki India also recalled 9,925 units of its three models Wagon R, Celerio, and Ignis. The cause was a fault in the rear brake assembly pin. These vehicles were manufactured between August 3 and September 1, 2022.
It is not that it is the first case in the country that has seen the matter of recalling the vehicles before hitting the showroom some of the other prominent companies that have taken the same route include:
1. Baleno and WagonR: In July 2020, Maruti recalled 1,34,885 units of WagonR and Baleno. These models were manufactured between November 15, 2018, and October 15, 2019. The company had recalled the vehicles due to a defect in the fuel pump.
2. Maruti Eeco: In November 2020, the company recalled 40,453 units of Eeco. The company had taken this decision due to the missing standard symbol on the headlamp of the vehicle. The recall covered Eecos manufactured between November 4, 2019, and February 25, 2020.
3. Mahindra Pickup: In 2021, Mahindra & Mahindra recalled 29,878 units of its commercial pickup vehicles. The company had said that a fluid pipe is to be replaced in some pickup vehicles manufactured between January 2020 and February 2021.
4. Mahindra Thar: Mahindra & Mahindra recalled 1577 units of the diesel variant of its offroad SUV Thar in February 2021. The company had said that these parts got damaged due to a fault in the plant's machine. All units were produced between September 7 and December 25, 2020.
5. Royal Enfield: In May 2021, Royal Enfield recalled 2,36,966 units of Bullet 350, Classic 350, and Meteor 350 due to the possibility of a short circuit. All these were manufactured between December 2020 and April 2021.
Maruti Suzuki announced its results for the quarter ending September 2022. The company's standalone net profit grew more than four times year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 2,062 crore. The company's revenue grew by nearly 46% to Rs 29,931 crore, while sales volumes for the quarter stood at 517,395 units, up 36% over the previous year.