Shanghai GM to recall Buicks on defect
(Bloomberg)
Updated: 2004-11-23 16:48

Shanghai GM Co., a joint venture with General Motors Corp, the world's biggest automaker, said it will recall 27,168 Buick models in China starting from November 23 because of a defect.

Customers show an interest in Buick Regal, a product from Shanghai GM Co, in a car dealer's office in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province November 23, 2004. The company announced to recall over 27,000 such models due to its vacuum hose defect. [newsphoto]

The vacuum hose of the Buick Regal 2.0 model can become loose after frequent vibrations, affecting the brakes, the company said. The defect has caused three minor accidents and no injuries, the company said.

The Chinese government on October 1 imposed vehicle recall rules for the first time. Seven automakers have recalled a total of 305,000 vehicles so far, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said on its Web site.

"In some cases following frequent vibrations, the vacuum hose in the Buick Regal 2.0 produced between December 17, 2002 and September 28, 2004 has the potential to loosen from the brake booster," General Motors said. "Under extreme conditions, the hose can in fact become disconnected, requiring increased effort from the driver to apply the brakes."

Shanghai General Motors Co., the Detroit-based automaker's venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., makes Buick Regal, Excelle and Sail cars, and GL8 minivans. The recall doesn't apply to other Buick Regal models because of a different product design, the release said.

Shares of Shanghai Automotive Co., the publicly traded unit of Shanghai Auto, China's biggest carmaker, fell 2.2 percent to 5.81 yuan at 1:45 p.m. on the Shanghai stock exchange. The listed company owns 20 percent of the General Motors venture.

DaimlerChrysler AG, the world's fifth-largest carmaker, recalled 12,988 Mercedes-Benz cars exported to China in September to fix leaking hydraulic pipes and air conditioners that don't blow enough cool air.

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