Safety doubts cast shadow over FAW-VW's Sagitar model

Sagitar cars are displayed at a FAW-Volkswagen shop in Beijing on Tuesday. Photo: Li Hao/GT

German auto brand Volkswagen, which recalled over 380,000 vehicles in China in 2013 due to problems in its direct shift gearbox (DSG) transmission technology, is facing new questions over quality in the world's largest auto market.

There have been several cases of Volkswagen Sagitar's rear suspension malfunctioning during driving in the past few months, with some cases happening on deceleration belts or bumpy roads, according to recent reports.

Though there is not yet any news on how common such cases are, the reports have caused great concern among Sagitar owners.

On August 3, around 20 Sagitar owners in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, protested at a local dealer over quality problems with the model's rear suspension, local news portal news.hsw.cn reported.

Similar protests have occurred in Guangdong, Anhui and Jilin provinces in the past few weeks, media said.

On China's popular instant messaging service QQ, over 50 groups consisting of worried Sagitar owners have been established over the past few months, discussing quality problems they have encountered and how they will go about defending their rights. Membership of these groups has now surpassed 3,000.

In response to media reports and consumers' concerns, FAW-Volkswagen, the joint venture between Volkswagen and its Chinese partner FAW Group that produces the Sagitar model, said in a statement on July 22 that experts' evaluations show the rear suspension accidents were "individual cases" and were not a common problem in Sagitar cars.

The company also said that some people have been spreading false information on the Internet and have been exaggerating the problems of Sagitar's rear suspension, adding that the company "reserves the right to take any legal action."

Despite the statement, consumers are still unsure about the quality of their cars. "I'm quite worried after hearing the news. If defects do exist, I hope Volkswagen can make repairs or launch a recall," a Sagitar owner surnamed Zhang in East China's Shandong Province told the Global Times on July 29.

Star product

Sales of Sagitar accounted for over 15 percent of FAW-Volkswagen's total sales in the first half of this year, when the joint venture sold a total of 155,400 units of Sagitar cars, ranking fourth in the sedan market, according to data from industry portal auto.gasgoo.com.

Sales of Sagitar sedans took off when the company rolled out a modified version in March 2012. Compared with the old version, the new model was equipped with more advanced technologies, such as seat heating, as well as more rear seat space.

The joint venture has sold over 400,000 units of Sagitar cars in China during the past two years. However, the 2012 version adopted non-independent rear suspension in design, instead of the old version's independent rear suspension, which generally provides a smoother ride but at a higher cost, experts said.

It was this batch of Sagitar sedans that has seen cases of broken rear suspension. In the latest Sagitar model launched in May this year, the company changed it back to independent rear suspension without changing the price, and this has caused even more discontent and distrust among consumers.

One demand of Sagitar owners in the QQ groups is that the company offer to change the rear suspension.

One technician who works at a Beijing FAW-Volkswagen dealer said that changing the suspension is feasible and would only take one day to complete. "But we still haven't received any direction from the company to offer such services," said the technician.

Recall necessary?

Some consumers have been displeased by the vagueness of the statement, which refers to the accidents as "individual cases." Beijing-based independent industry watcher Zhang Zhiyong noted that the company did not do a very good job in managing this public relations crisis.

"The company should convince consumers with concrete evidence," Zhang told the Global Times on Monday.

FAW-Volkswagen did not reply to a Global Times interview request on how many rear suspension accidents have been recorded.

According to China's vehicle recall regulation, the authorities could order automakers to make recalls if the product is proven defective. Wu Shuocheng, editor-in-chief at auto.gasgoo.com, noted that quality authorities should look into the matter.

In the past two weeks, around 100 complaints over Sagitar's rear suspension have been posted on the recall information system of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ).

Qiu Baochang, president of the legal panel at the China Consumers' Association, noted that if accidents are proven to have been caused by a common problem in the products, a recall should be initiated.

"Companies should take active and cautious measures to deal with consumers' complaints. If the products do not fall into the category of recalls, clear explanations should be provided," said Qiu.

The AQSIQ did not reply to a Global Times interview request by press time.

Previous cases showed that consumers' complaints can eventually lead to recalls. In 2013, media reported that the wheel knuckles of some Ford Kuga SUV models, jointly produced by Changan Automobile and Ford, broke during regular driving. But the company stated in October that there were no quality and design defects in its products and that it had no plans to issue a recall.

However, later in December after consumers had complained for almost a year, the company admitted that the substandard wheel knuckles could pose safety hazards and announced a recall of over 80,000 Kuga vehicles in China.

Sales still high

Though Volkswagen launched a massive recall of over 380,000 cars in 2013, it seems that its brand image in China remains untarnished. Volkswagen sold a total of 3.27 million units in China last year, ranking No.1 among all automakers.

In the first half, the company remained in the top spot with 1.8 million units sold in the Chinese market, up 17.5 percent year-on-year.

"I don't think the Sagitar compliant will seriously dent Volkswagen's sales in the Chinese market, given that most consumers still believe in the brand," Wu noted, adding that Volkswagen offers many different car models and consumers could turn to the company's other choices if they think Sagitar is unsafe.