Honda Motor announced a major recall in China, thought to eventually involve around 350,000 vehicles, following a flood of customer complaints over the last month concerning cold climate engine issues.
After customers reported a strong smell of petrol in their vehicles, unusual amounts of unburnt fuel were found to have collected in the engine oil pan and in many cases the engine warning light had been triggered. No accidents have been reported so far.
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Many of the complaints were aired on local blog sites including Weibo – China's equivalent of Twitter. Customers in China are increasingly turning to popular blogs to air their complaints, forcing manufacturers to react quickly to minimise damage to their brand image.
Honda said it was recalling the vehicles to update the fuel injection control software. Among the models affected are the CR-V and the Civic which are fitted with the 1.5-litre engine produced by the Dongfeng Honda Automobile joint venture.
Daimler's Mercedes-Benz is also recalling 20,779 vehicles in China over faulty seat belts.
The models affected are mainly C-class and GLC produced between October 2016 and February 2017.
Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen is recalling 3,681 Aircross and 4008 models produced between December 2014 and October 2015 due to faulty welding, which could potentially trigger electrical circuit breaks, plus checking issues with door locks.
