From Maruti to Volkswagen, carmakers struggle to make recalls a success

Car recalls make headlines and then are forgotten. But what happens to the recalls of several thousands of vehicles? What is the success rate? Interestingly, a recall is never hundred per cent successful.
 
Take the case of the recall of 323,700 cars announced by German carmaker Volkswagen in December 2015 after a government investigation found that these vehicles did not meet the specified emission norms.
 
This was one of the biggest recalls announced in the country. Unlike most recalls, this one was highly publicised and talked about because of the global angle. Volkswagen had admitted that about 11 million cars in different countries were fitted with an emission “defeat device”.
 
Three years later, 19 per cent of the cars are yet to come to workshops for the required service. Of these 323,700 vehicles, more than 61,500 cars have not been updated by the company to date. It was a software update that required just a couple of hours, the company said.
 
“We contacted the customers at least three times to complete the recall process. Some customers do not want to do it as the recall is voluntary. We do not want to force the customers who prefer not to get it done,” Steffen Knapp, director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India, told Business Standard.
 
Knapp said the success rate of 81 per cent was still an achievement and that it was higher than some of the other regions. “Our service network did a good job. We did not have the contact details of the remaining 19 per cent customers. These cars may have changed hands five-six times as used cars, some may have met with an accident,” Knapp added.
 
Volkswagen has approached the government to seek help with details of these vehicle owners from its data base. “We are constantly talking to the government, and also asked the government for the VAHAN (registration) data to connect with the remaining cars,” he said. Other brands also face similar challenges. Japanese carmaker Honda announced a recall of over 626,000 cars in India in 2015 and 2016.
 
“During 2017 and 2018, we announced four recall campaigns for air-bag inflator replacement of older vehicles and we have achieved more than an 82 per cent completion ratio for the same,” said a spokesperson for Honda Cars. One can see that even in cases where the recall relates to a safety hazard, the compliance is not hundred per cent.
  
The spokesperson said India had unique conditions and challenges in tracing older vehicles due to resale, theft and even migration. “This poses a challenge for faster and complete implementation. If there is a more robust registration database which is accessible by the industry, the recall completion can be quicker and efficient.”
 
Jnaneswar Sen, who served as senior vice-president (sales & marketing) at Honda Cars till early this year, said the outcome of recall depended on the age of vehicles being recalled.  “If the cars have been sold recently, the success rate could also reach 90 per cent. But it is never hundred per cent. The degree of success also depends on the company and its service network,” he said. If workshops are diligent, they can rectify the issue when a car goes for its regular service,” he said.