Now Maruti decides to recall 'A-Star' for faulty fuel pump gasket

"In November 2009, we came across an anomaly reported in the fuel tank in some of the vehicles and by December 2009, we started contacting the customers through letters," the company said in a statement.

"These vehicles belonged to a lot made till Aug 22, 2009 only. In case fuel is filled to the brim, beyond the fuel auto cut off position, a possible fuel leakage from the fuel pump mounting area may take place. No problem has been reported by customers."

But as a matter of caution, the company said it decided to check all vehicles from the lot and the fuel pump gasket and ring were being replaced for around 100,000 cars including those exported overseas.

The news had an immediate impact on the company's shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange, where its scrip fell to an intra-day low of Rs.1,320.25, to log a loss of 4.4 percent, before gaining some ground to close at Rs.1,336.85 with a loss of 3.24 percent.
Maruti's decision comes barely a month after the Indian arm of another Japanese company Honda decided to recall 8,532 'City' sedans manufactured in 2007 from India for a part replacement of power window switches that had the potential to catch fire.
"The third generation 'City' currently sold in India is not affected and does not require any part replacement," the company spokesperson said, after its parent called back 646,000 'Jazz' hatchbacks globally, excluding India.
Honda said there was a potential problem of smoke coming out from power window switches of its Indian City models manufactured in 2007 if water seeps in when left open during heavy rain or due to spillage of liquid.



The problem was discovered in an internal survey by the company and no complaint has been received so far, they added.
When contacted, a company spokesperson said: "At Maruti Suzuki, we constantly monitor quality of our products through feedback and internal analysis. In one such exercise in November, 2009, we came across an anomaly reported in the fuel tank in some of the vehicles and by December, 2009, we started contacting the customers through letters."
The company started replacing the gasket from December, 2009, and has so far changed the part in about 50,000 units.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) had launched its fifth global model -- A-Star -- on November 19, 2008. The 998cc K10B petrol engined car is manufactured only in India at its Manesar facility.
The recalled vehicles belong to a lot made till August 22 last year, the spokesperson said.
"No problem has been reported by customers. However, as a proactive step, we decided to check all vehicles from the lot, around one lakh units including those exported overseas. We are changing fuel pump gasket and 'O' ring at no cost to customer," he added.
The final cost for this replacement would be shared with the supplier partner after completion of the entire exercise.

A-Star is currently exported to about 70 countries and is sold as Suzuki Alto in Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Besides, some of the other major markets are Chile, Angola, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria and UAE, where it is sold as Suzuki Celerio.
Japanese car major Nissan also sells A-Star in the European market under a contract manufacturing agreement with MSI's parent Suzuki. Nissan sells the model as Pixo.
In December last year, A-Star had crossed one lakh mark of overseas shipments in less than a year of selling the car in the global markets. It started the export of the car since January, 2009. The company is expecting to double its export this fiscal on the back of robust demand from A-Star, as against 70,023 units in 2008-09.
The news dealt another blow to the Japanese car industry after Toyota Motor Corp announced massive recalls around the world.