General Motors under government scanner in India

American car maker General Motors has come under the scrutiny of the Indian government's various automotive regulatory agencies. Reports have emerged that the emission performance of the BS-3 Chevrolet Tavera MUV models was manipulated in order to satisfy regulator standards.  

While General Motors India has announced that it has readied up a fix for the emissions performance issue, the car maker is waiting for regulator approval before it can issue a mass recall for 114,000 Tavera MUVs sold in India, right from 2005. Currently, the production of the Tavera, which is built in BS-3 and BS-4 variants, stands suspended. 

An EconomicTimes report suggests that General Motors's workers fudged emission checks by installing engines with lower emission levels into Tavera models lined up for regulator inspection. These modified vehicles, which weighed lower than the actual production models, were sent to Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), a governmental regulatory agency at Pune, for emission norms compliance.

A recent ARAI inspection at General Motors's factory is said to have revealed discrepancies between the production versions of the Tavera MUV and the versions sent for certification. General Motors suspended production of the Tavera after the ARAI inspection. Engines used by the BS-3 and BS-4 versions of the Tavera are outsourced.

C.K. Birla group owned parts supplier, AVTEC, builds the 2.5 liter turbo diesel engine for the BS-3 model while International Cars and Motors Limited (ICML) builds the 2 liter, common rail turbo diesel engine used in the BS-4 model. While the BS-3 version of the Tavera is popular in the cab operator segment, the higher priced BS-4 model is aimed at family MUV buyers. 

LiveMint reports that this serious lapse could lead to 20 executives, including 4 top managers, working with General Motors being sacked. A committee led by Mr. Nitin Gokarn, the CEO of the recently set up National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRIP) will probe the violation of emission norms by General Motors and suggest punitive/correctional measures to be taken against the American automaker.

The committee is also expected to review manufacturing practices in the automotive sector and suggest new norms to address lapses. Notably, General Motors has also suspended production of diesel powered versions of the Sail hatchback and sedan. The production suspension is said to do with quality issues in the 1.3 liter turbo diesel engines of these cars.

General Motors has put a few thousand of these cars on Indian roads and it remains to be seen whether the quality issues have affected the cars that have already been sold in India. Also, reports of the Chevrolet Cruze, General Motors's flagship sedan sold in India, being recalled for steering issues have been doing the rounds for the past few days.

A BHPian, happening to own a Cruze sedan has reportedly received a call from his General Motors dealership, asking him to bring in his Cruze sedan for a steering check. General Motors is yet to announce an official recall for the Cruze sedan.