China tallies 1.84 million recalls over last four years
In 2004, China set up an official government body to regulate the business of automobile recalls. Previous to that, some car companies simply wouldn't recall faulty vehicles due to the lack of regulation. The head of that official body recently announced that in the four years it has been tracking recalls, there have been 1.84 million vehicles that needed a little more work done. If that number is accurate, it's astoundingly low. China is the world's second largest auto market - in 2006, it was reported to have sold 7.22 million vehicles. By contrast, there were something like 15 million car sales in the US that year, and 10.6 million vehicles recalled. We have a feeling that China is still learning the ins-and-outs of this whole recall business. China's most recalled nameplate over the past four years has been Mercedes-Benz, with 19. Their biggest single recall? 420,000 Honda Accords in 2007.
[Source: Gasgoo]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Level 3:04PM (12/31/2008)
Wait in till the Chinese have a mighty hand in building Toyota quality cars for 1/3 of the price...........It's going to shake the industry up a bit lol
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ack154 3:04PM (12/31/2008)
It would seem to me that it's probably because they just don't know what to really recall at this point.
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geo.stewart 3:18PM (12/31/2008)
probably the recall regulation is only for foreign manufacturers.
The Luigiian 3:09PM (12/31/2008)
Yes, but:
Judging by the Chinese crash tests we all know and are terrified by, China only recalls vehicles that explode if you put the key in the ignition.
So yeah, I would judge that their concept of "needs extra work" needs extra work.
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mark 6:20PM (12/31/2008)
Fantastic image.
Cyx 11:10PM (12/31/2008)
If you want to buy a big car or mid-sized car which made in China in a normal Mini car's price, China did well.However, that cheap stuff wouldn't be in a high quality as you wish. So just a few of they have past crash tests,
leather bear 3:22PM (12/31/2008)
Best pic to accompany an Autoblog post in, like, forever!
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Benfolio 3:32PM (12/31/2008)
As a father of two small children, I found the pic rather de-grating.
Rick 10:36AM (1/05/2009)
Agreed. Scary funny.
JD 3:40PM (12/31/2008)
I don't care about the posting, I'm all about the picture.
Big ups to Jonathon lol.
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Ben 4:17PM (12/31/2008)
As with all other negative figures reported by Chinese authorities, multiply this number by 10 or so to get the real amount...I guess only the Asians know this and American's haven't caught on yet.
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CH 5:00PM (12/31/2008)
"If that number is accurate, it's astoundingly low. China is the world's second largest auto market - in 2006, it was reported to have sold 7.22 million vehicles. By contrast, there were something like 15 million car sales in the US that year, and 10.6 million vehicles recalled"
Wrong way to look at it.
Recalls apply potentially to all vehicles on the road. There are about 250 million vehicles in use in the US, but only about 55 million in China. The Chinese recall rate is therefore not "astoundingly low" compared to the US.
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nistorica 5:33PM (12/31/2008)
Funny pic!Did not read the story,but this is great!
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Richard S. 7:16PM (12/31/2008)
Excellent pic. Someone should create a slide with realistic drawings depicting the grate....
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Kiko 3:37AM (1/01/2009)
It is obvious that some of the comments made above are from folk that have never been to China or Asia but make comments anyway.
A true reflection of the auto industry is that some need a bailout to survive and others don't.
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Erin 5:53PM (1/01/2009)
Kiko I disagree.
While there are centres of excellence in Asia for design and manufacture (ie Japan and Taiwan), China unfortunately is not one of them.
For my money (and peace of mind), i'm happy to pay more for 'Not Made in China' simply because where cars are concerned building to a standard is more important than building to a price.
Maybe the real story here is 'you get what you pay for' or 'caveat emptor' which where China is concerned appears to be a very loosely held practice of 'quality control' in manufacture.
It's a shame that China's reputation in the global market place has deteriorated in recent times from 'affordable' to 'poor quality'.
PS. In Australia, Indian and Chinese car manufacturers are readying themselves to enter the local market. Their prices undercut other manufacturers by thousands of dollars per vehicle, but local market experts believe that the perception of 'value' will not be strong enough to sway buyers away from 'trusted', 'quality' brands such as Toyota, Mazda and so forth. Only time will tell i guess.
Good luck with your chinese car by the way.
E.
CH 3:51AM (1/05/2009)
As I have mentioned before, most if not all Manufacturers in China are state owned and therefore receive their "bailout" year after year. How do you think that these companies can even survive if not for subsidies by the government and unneeded high taxation of imported vehicles?
I will have to agree with Erin, Japan and Korea were fast on learning the quality demands of foreign markets whereas China does not have the perception to do this (I worked with three different Car Manufacturers in China) all that matters for most is the price and that does not work in European or American markets. You have regulations to comply with and you have the demands of the customer to comply with which, if you only try to be cheaper than any competitor, will never be met.