Honda recalls 31,226 Amaze, Brio cars in India to repair faulty brake

Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL), the Indian unit of Japanese carmaker Honda Motors, yesterday announced the recall of 31,226 units of select variants of the Amaze compact sedan and Brio hatchback to inspect a possible defect in the brake system.

The company is recalling non-ABS variants of both models manufactured between 28 February 2013 and 16 January 2014 for inspecting the proportioning valve, the company said.

Proportioning valves are a part of the braking system which adjust brake distribution pressure to the wheels, but are not a part of braking systems for ABS variants and therefore the ABS variants of Brio and petrol Amaze and all variants of diesel Amaze do not require any inspection.

The recall involves 15,623 Brio cars and 15,603 petrol Amaze cars, HCIL said in a statement. 

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, the company stated.

"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 said.

The company has created a special microsite on the company's website (www.hondacarindia.com), which enables the customers to check whether their car will be covered under this inspection campaign by inputting their 17-character alpha-numeric Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).

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 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 (See: Maruti seen recalling nearly one lakh Dzire cars). 

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) recalled 44,989 units of multi-purpose vehicle Innova manufactured between February 2005 and December 2008 to rectify a faulty cable on the steering wheel.

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 (GM India to recall 114,000 Chevrolet Tavera over emissions issues).