General Motors India is recalling 114,000 Chevrolet Tavera SUVs in order to fix matters related to emission standards and specifications. The recall, which is one of the largest automotive recalls ever in India, also resulted in a pause in production of the Tavera at India as GM’s solution passes regulatory approval.
The Tavera — a legacy vehicle for developing countries initially developed by Isuzu — faces two issues: the first revolves around the Bharat Stage 3 model, which faces an emissions-related issue, while the Bharat Stage 4 Tavera doesn’t meet certain specifications. General Motors didn’t provide any more details on the issues, but did say that they don’t consitute a safety risk.
Bharat Stage 3 and 4 standards are India’s equivalent to the Euro 3 and 4 emission specifications, with Stage 4 having been implemented for passenger vehicles in 13 major cities in April of 2010, while the Stage 3 requirements having been active across the rest of the country since October 2010.
General Motors has paused production and sale of the Tavera’s 2.5 liter diesel engine (which meets Bharat Stage 3 requirements) and the 2.0 liter diesel (Bharat Stage 4). The automaker has confirmed that it has a solution in place, but needs regulatory approval from Indian authorities to deploy it on sold Taveras, those at dealer lots, and on the production line at its plant at Halol, Gujarat, India.
“After the proposed solution receives approval from authorities, General Motors India will resume Tavera production and sale, and move forward with its recall and customer notification plan for both the BS3 and BS4 models,” the company said.
GM’s recall comes on the heels those of rival automakers in the Indian market, including Ford, Honda, Yamaha, and Mahindra & Mahindra, which follow the adoption of a “voluntary code on vehicle recall” by the local society of automakers in July of 2012.
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