Japan Honda’s India arm recalls 31,226 units of Amaze, Brio

Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) on Monday recalled 31,226 units of select variants of the Amaze compact sedan and Brio hatchback to inspect them for a possible defect in the brake system.

The company will inspect the proportioning valve of non-ABS variants of both models manufactured between 28 February, 2013, and 16 January, 2014. The recall is for 15,623 Brio cars and 15,603 petrol Amaze cars, HCIL said in a statement.
The proportioning valve is part of the system that adjusts brake distribution pressure to the wheels.

The inspection and replacement, if needed, would be carried out free of cost at HCIL dealerships across India and owners will be contacted individually in a phased manner.

‘There is a possibility that in some of these cars there is mis-assembly of the proportioning valve. However, no complaint related to this part has been reported. HCIL will voluntarily replace the proportioning valve after inspection, if required,’ the company added.

Customers can check if their cars are among those recalled by submitting their 17-character alpha-numeric vehicle identification numbers (VIN) on the company website. ABS variants of Brio and the petrol Amaze and all variants of the diesel Amaze would not need to be inspected because the proportioning valve is not a part of their braking systems.

Last month, Maruti Suzuki India recalled 1,03,311 units of its Ertiga, Swift and DZire models manufactured between 12 November, 2013, and 4 February, 2014, to replace a faulty fuel filler neck in one of the biggest vehicle recalls in the country. Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) recalled 44,989 units of multi-purpose vehicle Innova manufactured between February 2005 and December 2008 in India to rectify a faulty cable on the steering wheel.

Automobile companies have been pro-active in recalling vehicles in case of safety issues since industry body SIAM initiated a voluntary recall policy in 2012.

Last year, General Motors India recalled 1.14 lakh units of its multi-purpose vehicle Chevrolet Tavera manufactured between 2005 and 2013 to address emissions and specification issues. It was the biggest recall in India till date.