GM and partner SAIC recall 1.5m cars
Mainland action counters potential hazards in Buicks and Chevrolets, while Ford also acts
General Motors' mainland joint venture will recall almost 1.5 million vehicles due to potential safety issues in one of the biggest recalls in the world's biggest car market.
Shanghai General Motors, GM's venture with SAIC Motor, will recall about 1.46 million Buick and Chevrolet models produced on the mainland due to issues with a bracket that secures the fuel pump, the mainland's quality watchdog said yesterday.
Some of the recalled vehicles include the Chevy Sail that is exported to emerging markets, a Shanghai-based General Motors official said.
Separately, the watchdog said Ford Motor's joint venture with Chongqing Changan Automobile will recall almost 81,000 of its Kuga cars over a steering part.
Yale Zhang, head of Shanghai-based consulting firm Automotive Foresight, said that the GM recall was big in number because both the affected models - the Buick Excelle and the Chevrolet Sail - are high-volume, mainstream cars, but the cause of the recall did not appear too serious.
"GM has warned that the affected component might crack after long use and lead to fuel leakage, but in real life it doesn't appear to have happened," Zhang said.