Nissan, the Japanese multinational auto maker is planning to recall around 9,600 units of its Micra, the compact hatchback. These vehicles were produced at their Oragadam factory near Chennai. In order to rectify, a mechanical glitch, these cars are recalled by the company.
This issue at the company's Chennai plant is not for the first time, Nissan was also forced to make some rectification of mechanical glitches in the units which were exported to Europe. All those 9,600 units of Micra recalled by Nissan have been sold solely in Europe. Process of retrieving is a part of Nissan's global recall of 249,522 units that covers seven different models.
Nissan's spokesperson in Tokyo said that this global recall is for the Patrol, Serena, Infiniti QX, and Infiniti M, which were made in Japan, and Juke made in Britain as well as Japan. Moreover the models like Tiida produced in China and the Micra, made in India are also included in the list of the recalled models. All these cars are retrieved to mend a mechanical glitch occurred in the fuel rail of direct injection engines, which can further lead to leaks in extreme cases.
The spokesperson of Nissan India said, “This global recall includes about 9,600 units of India-built Micras that were sold in Europe. There are no issues in other units. The recall programme won’t have any impact on Micras sold in India as the specifications are totally different for export markets.”
Nissan already made moderate changes in the Micra at the end of 2010, which were meant for the European markets. During the recall, the company clarified that it was not because of safety issue in the car, rather it was for faulty sensor.
The specifications preferred in the Indian market are much more different compared to Europe, and this is counted as the main reason of this recall. The problem occurred as slight noise in the engine bay of the car during ignition, in extreme cold conditions. To overcome this, the company changed the oil content in European specification cars and made them parallel to climatic conditions of Europe.
In the current scenario, a major portion of Nissan's production held in India is shifted towards the export markets. The Indian subsidiary of Nissan started exporting its Micra in October 2010 and reached around 136,000 units in January 2012. Nissan is engaged in exporting its Micra to the countries like Africa, Europe, and West Asia, among others. Owing to these figures, Nissan is accounted as the third largest exporter of hatchbacks from India after Maruti and Hyundai.
