The pending car recall system is finally expected to be "landed" during the year. On January 8th, the National Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision held a message that China will establish a recall system for defective products this year, and will first use the defective vehicle recall as a pilot. This means that the auto recall system, which has been debated for more than a year and is of general interest to consumers, is about to be implemented.
Touching corporate interests
According to relevant persons from the Quality Management Department of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China, the AQSIQ will immediately launch the recall of defective vehicles. In November 2002, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine published the "Management Regulations for Defective Automobile Product Recall (Draft)". The bill to be implemented is a revised version based on this draft. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) hopes that this administrative regulation can be subsequently increased into a legal regulation through corresponding procedures.
It is worth noting that AQSIQ held a hearing on the eve of the decision to implement the car recall system. The participating companies are basically divided into two camps: one party believes that there is no problem with the implementation of the car recall system at that time; the other said that the timing is not Mature should be postponed. The auto reviewer Zhong Shi believes that this seemingly purely technical problem of disagreement is actually related to the actual interests of the company. On the whole, the positive companies are high-quality products, large market share, strong automotive group companies; and as the anti-party companies are mostly new car companies, brand awareness is low, product quality needs to be improved.
For the recall system, relevant leaders of Guangzhou Honda Automobile Co., Ltd. stated: “Guangzhou Honda is a positive welcoming attitude. On the one hand, the recall system respects users’ right to know and can effectively protect the rights of users and restrict manufacturers; On the one hand, with the recall system, manufacturers can act according to rules and procedures, clarify the rights and responsibilities of both manufacturers and users, which are conducive to manufacturers to establish a strict quality control system, is conducive to the healthy and orderly development of China's auto industry. â€
In 2003, the cluster cars of domestically-made cars suffered a series of failures. The three 1.8T sedan, Polaris, Audi, and Passat, the PO?LO 1.6-litre sedan, the Elysee 16V sedan, and the new-generation Accord sedan have all suffered from different causes. Consumers are strongly urged to recall calls for products that have the same flaws in a batch, model, or category of automotive products due to design, manufacturing, and other reasons.
Zhao Ying, a researcher at the Institute of Industrial Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the implementation of the car recall system allows Chinese consumers to enjoy the same "national treatment" as global car consumers.
Relocation to vulnerable groups?
Some industry insiders believe that once the car recall system is implemented, the budget system of the company's cost accounting and other budget systems must be revised. In the short term, it will cause certain pressure on the company's operations. This company, Guangzhou Honda, etc. are not allowed.
In 2002, Mitsubishi Motors Japan spent approximately US$ 45.8 million in a recall operation involving 524,000 vehicles. In 2001, Ford Motor Company announced that it would recover 13 million Firestone tires worth US$2.1 billion, resulting in the company’s loss. heavy.
The huge losses caused by the “recall†once caused the domestic auto makers to worry. Some manufacturers even think that the implementation of the recall system may lead to the bankruptcy of certain enterprises, and the domestic auto industry may have “unbearable weightâ€.
However, the car critic Zhong Shi believes that the average profit rate of Chinese auto makers is 20% to 30%, which is several times the international average profit rate. At present, many automobile manufacturers have good returns. Even if a defective product is forced to be recalled, it will only affect the profit margin by a few percentage points and will not cause a sensational "bankruptcy."
"If there is a manufacturer who goes bankrupt because of a car recall, it means that such a manufacturer does not have market competitiveness. 'Recall' is one of the means to raise the market's threshold. The government cannot delay the recall system because of the reality level of the manufacturers. Zhao Ying expressed his opinion.
Prior to this, AQSIQ had publicly solicited opinions on the vehicle recall draft several times, or consulted the industry.
Zhong Shi said that AQSIQ has also taken into account the fact that laws and regulations are too stringent and that companies will not have time to adjust and other factors. It seems that the implementation of the car recall system is still a law that suits China's national conditions. Technical indicators are not as stringent as foreign ones.
Hard start, soft landing
Facing the impending implementation of the car recall system. It seems that manufacturers and the government still have much work to do. At present, the marketing and after-sales service links of many automobile companies in China are not standardized. Manufacturers often do not register with consumers, nor have they established sound consumer information files.
Zhong Shi believes that the system of this part of the factory is not perfect, and even if it is recalled, it will not work.
It is understood that at present, some auto manufacturers have begun to set up recall mechanisms such as quality warning and information management systems.
Prior to this, the “recall†draft argues that the key point that has been delayed for the past year is that the relevant supporting mechanisms are not perfect and the recall system is feasible. If the main body of law enforcement is not clear, there is a lack of technical monitoring platforms, too few supporting laws and regulations, and avoiding environmental protection issues, etc., are frequently criticized.
Zhao Ying believes that once the recall system is implemented, it needs to rely on a powerful defective automotive product information system, investigation and certification of automobile product defects, and automotive product quality inspection agencies. At present, our detection capability is still very limited.
It is reported that AQSIQ has started to do related work. The quality inspection system and organization are unified by the AQSIQ to establish, collect, analyze and process information on defects in automotive products, and implement technical inspections on product defects.
Related Links
Eight recalls closely related to China
On January 10, 2004, Daimler-Chrysler’s Mercedes-Benz company said it would recall 33,000 cars worldwide. The company informed the owner of the C, CLK, and E series that were manufactured between August and October 2003 to check whether there was a problem with the belt buckles. Of the 33,000 cars, about 12,000 were recalled from the German market. This news is undoubtedly an unfavorable influence on the reputation of Mercedes-Benz.
On November 20, 2003, Mitsubishi Motors of Japan announced the recall of its GALANT. These include 661 vehicles produced from April 1997 to November 2000 and exported to China. The recall of the Gallan car (GALANT) due to the front suspension system's lower arm ball joint is not tightly sealed. Continue to use the vehicle in this state, which may affect normal driving.
On October 30, 2003, Nissan Motor Co. recalled 2.56 million cars worldwide. The reason for the recall is that there may be a short circuit in the internal circuit of the engine crankshaft position sensor, which may cause the engine to be underpowered or unable to start. The recall involves domestically produced Sunshine N16 models and imported Qijun T30 models that were produced before June 2002, which were 4,996 vehicles and 794 vehicles respectively.
Starting from October 8, 2003, the 57,724 new-generation Accord sedan cars produced from January 15 to September 4, 2003 will be returned to the Guangzhou Honda Automobile Special Service Store for free inspection and prevention of loosening.
On September 30, 2003, Toyota Motor recalled some of the 11 models of vehicles. These models involved more than 180,000 vehicles such as Crown and Crown Majesta.
On August 15, 2003, Japan's Honda recalled 250,000 CRV off-road vehicles in the United States and Canada due to the inability of the automatic transmission lock function. However, similar vehicles in the Chinese market were not recalled.
On April 2, 2003, Mitsubishi Motors conducted a free recall of space vehicles (SPACEWAGON-N84) in Japan and overseas markets.
On February 12, 2003, Volkswagen China stated that despite the fact that some models equipped with 1.8T turbocharged engines had engine ignition coil faults, they were not involved in vehicle recall because they did not involve traffic safety issues. Previously, due to the technical flaw of the 1.8T engine ignition coil, domestic ignition coils of the Passat, Bora, Audi A6 and other models equipped with this engine were frequently damaged. At the same time, due to lack of supply, it caused inconvenience to many owners. The problem involves 850,000 Volkswagen cars worldwide.