Last year, China’s auto recalls increased by 77% year-on-year, setting a new record for 4 consecutive years

The voluntary recall of automotive products and quality issues are not necessarily linked. The elimination of potential risks or hidden dangers through voluntary recall is an initiative to take responsibility for the performance. It is a measure to continuously improve product quality, provide consumers with protection and better experience.

Recently, the General Administration of Customs announced that more than 10,000 imported BMWs, Volvos and Porsche cars were facing recalls due to safety hazards. Not long ago, Dongfeng Honda announced that it had recalled more than 130,000 CR20 cars. In recent years, the recalled imported car brands have not only Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi, etc. Even luxury brands such as Rolls Royce and Bentley have not been spared. What does the frequent recall of imported cars mean?

"The main reason for the recall was due to product defects." The relevant person in charge of the Defective Product Management Center of the State Market Supervision Administration told the reporter that the defect was due to the design, manufacturing, marking, etc. resulting in the same batch, model or category of products. There are generally unreasonable risks that do not meet the requirements for ensuring personal and property safety, national standards, industry standards, or other risks that endanger the safety of people and property.

The well-known Takada airbag incident caused only 278 injuries and 15 deaths in the United States, making it the largest car recall incident in the United States. The recall involved about 100 million airbags worldwide, including 19 auto companies such as Ford, Volkswagen, and Tesla. The ongoing recalls and compensations caused Gaotian to be overwhelmed and had to file for bankruptcy protection.

Last year, China's major automotive product manufacturers implemented a total of 251 recalls of defective automotive products and recalled 20.048 million defective vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 77%, setting a new record for four consecutive years. Among them, the Takada airbag incident involved recalls accounting for 49% of the total annual recall, and the joint venture brand was more affected by airbags.

For the automotive industry, there is no need to “change and recall” because the recall is only a defective product. The relevant person in charge of the State Market Supervision and Administration Bureau stated that there was no necessary connection between the voluntary recall and quality issues. Some products were limited in terms of the level of technology or knowledge at the time of design or production. Although they were all in compliance with laws or industry regulations, the products had already entered. After discovering possible problems in the circulation field, eliminating potential risks or hidden dangers through voluntary recalls is an act of active accountability. It is a measure to constantly improve product quality, provide consumers with protection, and better experience; if it is in the public opinion or the state With the intervention of relevant departments, passive recalls have to be implemented. The damage will not only be the interests of consumers, but also the brand itself.

At the same time, although the number of recalls from imported cars has continued to increase, sales have risen instead of falling. According to the statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, between January and April, the sales of German, Japanese, U.S., Korean, and French passenger cars reached 1.667 million, 1.353 million, 8.81 million, 347,000, and 138,000. Vehicles accounted for 20.82%, 16.89%, 11%, 4.34% and 1.72% of the total passenger car sales. Compared with the same period of the previous year, except for the slight decline in the sales volume of American brands, other imported brands all increased slightly.

"Recall is a good thing and should be treated properly." According to Jian Jianhua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, frequent recalls also illustrate the importance that foreign auto makers attach to the Chinese market.

It is worth noting that in the thousands of recalls in China, the recall scale of each department is very different. Among them, the Japanese car companies recalled the largest scale, and the recall of the self-owned car companies was the smallest.

In this regard, industry experts analyzed that the number of self-owned brand car companies recalled less, on the one hand, with the continuous improvement of the quality of self-owned brand cars, problem defects are declining year by year; on the other hand, many outstanding companies have already taken the initiative to recall as a product The important part of life cycle quality management is integrated into the quality management system. There is indeed a certain gap between domestically produced independent brands and foreign-funded enterprises in terms of production technology, production standards, and processes. This is also the main reason that leads to inconsistency between them and the recall standards of foreign brands. The overall product management system of independent brand car companies remains to be improved.