GM to recall 1.5 million cars in China

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - General Motors Co and its China joint venture partner will recall close to 1.5 million vehicles due to potential safety issues in one of the biggest recalls in the world's biggest autos market.

Shanghai General Motors Co Ltd, GM's venture with SAIC Motor Corp , will recall about 1.46 million Buick and Chevrolet models produced locally due to issues with a bracket that secures the fuel oil pump, the country's quality watchdog said on Friday.

Some of the recalled vehicles include the Chevy Sail which is exported to emerging markets, a Shanghai-based GM official said.

Separately, the watchdog said Ford Motor Co's joint venture with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co Ltd will recall close to 81,000 of its Kuga cars over a steering part.

U.S. carmakers in China have outpaced growth in the overall market, boosted by their popular product line-ups and partly as Japanese rivals were hit last year by anti-Japan protests following a territorial dispute between Beijing and Tokyo.

GM sold 2.89 million vehicles in China in January-November, up 11.4 percent from a year earlier, while Ford sold 840,975 vehicles, up 51 percent.

Last month, Volkswagen's Chinese unit recalled 640,309 vehicles for checks that they were using mineral oil rather than synthetic oil to avoid gearbox-related electronic flaws. That was part of a broader global recall over a range of issues with several models. It also pulled 207,778 Tiguan compact sport-utility vehicles off the road due to a risk of a partial light malfunction.

GM makes vehicles in China in partnership with both FAW Group and SAIC. Ford has manufacturing and sales ventures in China with Changan Automobile and Jiangling Motors Corp.

(Reporting by Kazunori Takada; Additional reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu in BEIJING; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)