Honda to replace faulty switches
( 2002-06-06 10:06 ) (1 )

Chinese Honda users are expected to have their suspected ignition switches in certain Honda models replaced in about 10 days, said Honda representatives on Wednesday.

"We are arranging (the) dispatch of parts, which are expected to come into China from headquarters in the middle of this month," said Liu Dequan, at the Beijing branch of Japan's Honda Group.

Honda, Japan's second-biggest car maker, said last month that it would recall certain Honda and Acura models to replace faulty ignition switches that may cause the cars' engines to stall.

The Beijing branch of the company said 25,388 cars, including the Acura, CRV and Odyssey models that were imported into China from 1997 to 1999 are affected.

Ignition switches in about 3,560 Honda cars which were made by a Sino-Japanese joint venture based in South China's Guangdong Province will also be replaced, Liu said.

"We are urging our headquarters to quickly bring parts into China and Chinese users can apply for a free check of their ignition switches at the auto maker's maintenance centres across the nation," he added.

Liu said each replacement will cost about 650 yuan (US$78), paid for by Honda.

High-level officials at the branch have not been available for comment on the development of the problem.

The auto maker said electrical contacts within the switch can wear prematurely, making the vehicles harder to start and possibly causing them to stall.

Another auto giant, Mercedes-Benz, has responded slowly to Chinese quality supervision authorities who ruled last month to forbid the import of the faulty MB100 model and urged Chinese users to stop driving the vehicle because of a serious manufacturing flaw.

"We are contacting China's highest quality supervision authorities and we will take measures to solve the problem very soon," said Li Lipin, a staff member at the Mercedes-Benz Beijing Branch.

At the end of May, China's quality supervision authorities asked owners of the model to take their vehicles to maintenance centres as soon as possible after an MB100 crashed, killing one person and injuring two others, in Northwest China's Gansu Province on February 29. It was found to have a faulty braking system and that the problem is common among vans of that model.

"Mercedes-Benz should recall these vehicles in line with internationally accepted practice," said a supervision quality official on condition of anonymity.

The China Consumers Association said on Wednesday that the company has yet to respond to investigation requirements sent to the company last month.

"We are willing to offer legal aid to Chinese owners if they want to go after the maker," said Wang Qianhu, an official with the association.

Unofficial statistics show that 2,076 MB100s have been taken in for repair around the country since 2000. Some 11.37 per cent of the vehicles checked have reported the same defect.