General Motors to recall 114000 units of the Chevrolet Tavera

Shortly, General Motors India will recall 114,000 units of the Chevrolet Tavera MUV. This recall applies to both BS3 and BS4 variants of the Tavera, and will cover the MUVs built between 2005 and 2013. While the BS3 version of the Tavera uses a 2.5 liter turbo diesel engine built by AVTEC Limited (a company owned by the C.K. Birla group), the BS4 model uses a 2 liter common rail, turbo diesel engine produced by International Cars and Motors Limited (ICML). 

The recall will involve modifications to these engines, to resolve emissions performance and specification issues.  Early last month, General Motors halted production of the diesel powered Sail hatchback and sedan, and the Tavera MUV, after a routine inspection by Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), a governmental certifying agency, found certain discrepancies. The Tavera BS3 model failed to meet emission norms while there were specification issues with the Tavera BS4 model.

Both issues are not safety related. General Motors, in its latest statement, states that it has found fixes to the various issues on the Tavera, and has completed engineering validation of the same. The American car maker is now said to be waiting for regulatory approval for re-starting production of the Tavera.  After the regulatory approval, the car maker will also recall 114,000 units of the Tavera in order to fix the issues on the MUV.

The recall will be carried out by General Motors's 280 strong dealerships across India, free of cost to the customer. Meanwhile, General Motors is yet to make an official statement regarding the status of the diesel engined versions of the Sail hatchback and sedan. Production of these cars were stopped last month on account of quality issues with the diesel engines. It remains to be seen whether GM India also issues a recall for the Sail Diesel twins as a few thousand units of these cars have already been sold in India. Currently, production of the Sail Diesel twins stands suspended.