Maruti Suzuki Chairman R C Bhargava has accepted the company had erred by not informing the press about the recall of 100,000 A-Star cars, which started last December.
Bhargava said: “We slipped up and will be calling a press conference in the next two-three days to explain things. On hindsight, we should have informed the press, as we had communicated the problem with everyone who had been effected – customers and dealers, among others. There was no question of us hiding anything.”
Bhargava said the company had sent letters to all clients telling them about the problem. He said in its previous recall of few cars, Maruti had always notified the press about the action.
Maruti Suzuki had accepted on Tuesday it withdrawn all the 100,000 A-Stars produced prior to August 22, 2009, to substitute flawed parts that may cause fuel leakages. The A-Star was introduced only 15 months back and the withdrawals started in December.
From all the A-Stars withdrawn, 60% were sold overseas, while the remaining in local market. The vehicles withdrawn by Maruti comprise few Nissan Pixos too. It is the identical vehicle as the A-Star, but is relabeled as a Nissan product.
It is the biggest withdrawal by an Indian car company. Actually, Maruti beat its own record of withdrawing 76,000 Omnis in 2001.