Photo: CFP

After negotiating with Chang'an Ford Automobile Co, Ford Motor Co's Chinese joint venture, for more than 3 months, Ms. Zhang, an owner of Ford Kuga SUV in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, finally saw a recall.

Chang'an Ford will recall 80,857 Ford Kuga SUVs produced between September 21, 2012 and November 13, 2013 from February 21, 2014 because of substandard steering knuckles, Chang'an Ford announced on December 27, 2013 on its website.

Chang'an Ford will replace the knuckles on recalled cars, an anonymous staff member from Chang'an Ford's customer service department told the Global Times Tuesday.

However, Zhang was not satisfied with the result. She believes a simple recall can't make up for her losses over the past three months.

"I require for car returning, compensation and apology." Zhang told the Global Times Monday.

Broken knuckles

On September 22 2013, Zhang's Kuga SUV suddenly lost control while she was driving, then a tire burst. Fortunately, Zhang, who drove the car, and three kids on the car, was not get injured. 

Zhang found the steering knuckle of her Kuga, which she had bought in April 2013, was broken, leading to the car losing control.  

Afterwards, Zhang argued with Chang'an Ford and the seller, Yida Ford, that the broken knuckle was a serious quality problem, but the seller only agreed to give 40,000 yuan ($6,612) in insurance compensation, according to Zhang.

Meanwhile, Zhang complained to Defective Product Administration Center (DPAC) under General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) and Shenzhen Quarantine and Market Supervision Administration Bureau, but did not receive helpful feedback.

Similar knuckle breaks happened in October, Zhang said, noting since then she requested a recall of the Kuga instead of just a solution to her issue.

"Now, as far as I know, there have been about 20 Kuga knuckle breaking problems in China," she said Tuesday.

However, Chang'an Ford claimed that the knuckle breaking was caused by collisions rather than quality problem, auto news portal auto.msn.com.cn reported on December 9.

"Yida Ford gave me a proposal including returning my car and 150,000 yuan compensation, coming with the condition that I apologize online for criticizing Yida Ford and Chang'an Ford, but I rejected the offer." Zhang said.

"Now, after the recall announcement, Yida Ford refused my request to return the car." She said.

Yida Ford refused to comment when contacted by the Global Times Wednesday.

Chang'an Ford could not be reached for comment by press time.

Customer difficulties

In the past three months, Zhang almost gave up her job and became fully devoted in demanding recall and compensation, including negotiating frequently with the seller and the manufacturer, and paying for a car test.

Therefore, she decided to continue her fight and requested Yida Ford and Chang'an Ford compensate her.

Recalls are a common action in the auto industry, but the recall of the Kuga was the most prominent in 2013, Zhang Zhiyong, an independent auto industry analyst said in his blog on December 31.

Ford has recalled the Kuga outside of China seven times but it is the first time it has been recalled in China. Car owners even protested at the Guangzhou Auto Show, according to Zhang Zhiyong

In the long-running dispute, the national quality watchdog, responsible for protecting customers, did not play its role properly, Zhang Zhiyong told the Global Times Monday.

China's rules on the recall defective cars, which came into effect on January 1, 2013, said that the public should be able to easily contact the quality watchdog to complain about products.

However, the Kuga recall case showed that it is not easy for customers to seek help or get feedback from the authority, Zhang Zhiyong said.
He suggested that the authority should release more implementation details, including clearly indicating contact information for complaining in the auto instruction brochures and after-sales documents, and communicating with customers more actively through media platforms such as Weibo.

Customers can submit their complaining on the website of DPAC but they almost have no way to follow the progress of their complaint or discover if there are other similar cases, Jiang Suhua, a lawyer at the Yingke Law Firm told the Global Times.

The quality watchdog should do more on information disclosure rather than just receiving complaints then letting customers wait, Jiang said.

Auto recalls in 2013

There has been 133 batches of vehicle recalls in China in 2013, involving 5.31 million cars, a year-on-year increase of 65.8 percent, which is a highest record, according to a statement released on January 3, 2014 on the website of AQSIQ.

In 2013, 37 percent of the recalled cars, 1.96 million vehicles, were recalled after the investigations by the authorities, the statement said, noting the country's quality watchdog strengthened the investigation and recall of defective products. 

According to a new rule issued by the quality assurance authority in 2013, auto sellers are responsible for repairs, replacements and refunds of private cars manufactured and sold in China, Xinhua News Agency reported on January 1, 2014.

The new policy contributed to the increase in recalls in 2013, Cui Dongshu, deputy secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association was cited by Xinhua.

The increasing recall shows that more automakers are being responsible toward their Chinese customers, Xinhua reported.