Dongfeng Nissan recalls faulty Tiida hatchbacks

Nissan Motor Co's China joint venture Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Co will recall 8,818 Dongfeng Nissan Tiida compact hatchbacks starting from March 20 to fix a mechanical glitch in the fuel rail of direct injection engines that could cause a fuel leak, China's quality watchdog said Thursday.

The model's fuel rail pressure sensor on certain vehicles may not be completely tightened with the fuel rail of the engines and could gradually loosen, leading to fuel leakage in extreme cases, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said yesterday.

The latest recall follows a blowout of a Dongfeng Nissan Qashqai SUV on a highway in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, causing 5 deaths on February 5, and customer criticisms of a few Dongfeng Nissan car models' GPS navigation system.

Nissan Motor Co also said Wednesday that it would recall about 250,000 Juke, Infiniti M, March and other models globally to prevent similar problems.

The recall affects Dongfeng Nissan Tiida cars equipped with an MR16 turbo-charged engine and manufactured between April 19, 2011 and December 28, 2011 at the company's plant in Hubei Province, the Wuhan-based joint venture confirmed.

No accident or injury has been reported due to the fault, said the company's statement.

Dongfeng Nissan's sales branch and its dealerships have contacted all car owners by phone, text messages, e-mails and post, said the statement.

The company said it would fix the malfunction for free to eliminate risks, but did not reveal whether the faulty parts were imported or supplied by domestic manufacturers.

Hangzhou resident Huang Wei, who bought a 1.6-liter Tiida sedan seven months ago, questions the automaker's quality inspection process.

"It's disappointing that owners need to wait for a month until an official recall," she said.

"No detailed settlement for the faulty cars are released yet, but consumers can return their cars for repair at the moment," said Jin Xiaofeng, manager at a Dongfeng Nissan dealership.

Wang Liusheng, an auto analyst at Shenzhen-based China Merchant Securities, believes the recall might affect consumers' confidence in cars manufactured by the Sino-Japanese automobile joint venture.

"Despite record sales of more than 100, 000 vehicles in nine months since last June, the recall will still affect the brand's image and reflect poorly on its after-sales service," Wang said.