GM India makes single-largest recall of 155,000 units for faulty keyless entry system

Hot on the heels of Nissan Motor India’s recall last week due to defective airbag inflators, General Motors India (GMI) has just recalled three of its models being sold in the country under the Chevrolet brand.

At approximately 155,000 units, this is the largest single recall in the history of the Indian automotive industry and  involves the Spark and Beat hatchbacks, along with the Enjoy multi-purpose vehicle. The recall affects certain vehicles manufactured between 2007 and 2014 which were fitted with a faulty remote keyless entry accessory.

When contacted by Autocar Professional, a GMI spokesperson said, “The remote keyless entry accessory meets all the relevant regulatory standards; however, GM India has been made aware of some isolated cases where certain Chevrolet Spark, Beat and Enjoy vehicles were fitted with a faulty accessory. As a result, the impacted Chevrolet Spark, Beat and Enjoy vehicles could experience damage to the vehicle due to inappropriate routing.”

Many affected customers have reportedly already received letters from the OEM, indicating the fault in the battery wiring harness and requesting them to visit their nearest service centre to have the necessary corrections completed. The spokesperson company also added that if any customers not identified by the OEM have any concerns regarding the performance of their remote keyless entry accessory, they may visit their nearest Chevrolet dealer for a free inspection.

This is GMI’s second recall in the country since SIAM’s Voluntary Code for recalls came into effect in July 2012. Its previous recall of its Tavera model in July 2013 to address emission and specification issues affected 114,000 vehicles.

With this latest recall, GMI has pipped Maruti Suzuki India to become second in the list of OEMs with maximum vehicles recalled in India. Its tally now stands at 269,000 vehicles. Ford India still leads this chart, though, with a total of 316,400 vehicles recalled till date in the country.

Also read: Vehicle recalls in India cross the one-million mark

As reported by Autocar Professional recently, the number of vehicles recalled in India since SIAM’s code came into effect crossed the one-million mark in May 2015. Since then, recalls from Honda Cars India, Nissan Motor India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and General Motors India have pushed the total up to 1,181,798 units. Alarmingly, in the July 2014-June 2015 period, a total of 250,904 vehicles were recalled, whereas the first two weeks of July 2015 itself have seen announcements for 162,100 units to be brought back to the workshops for repair/replacement of faulty parts.