Breaking: Honda Announces Worldwide Recall Of 646,000 (Un)Fit Cars
According to Dow Jones Newswire, Honda “announced a voluntary worldwide recall of 646,000 compact cars so that it can examine window switches that can overheat if exposed to liquid.”
From the official statement:
“Under some severe operating conditions, water, rain, or other liquid may enter the driver’s window and reach the master power window switch, resulting in impaired function of the switch. If the master power window switch is damaged as a result of the liquid intrusion, it may result in failure of the switch and overheating.”
“An overheating switch may cause smoke, melting or, potentially, fire.”
The recall affects models built in Japan, China, Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia and India. Of the vehicles being recalled, 171,372 are in the U.K., where the model is known as the Jazz, 141,140 are in the U.S. and 229,000 are in Latin America.
About 10 percent of the (Un)Fit cars will need replacement switches, most will get waterproof skirts to prevent water from seeping in.
Did anybody say “when it rains, it pours?”
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Not too long ago, american car recalls were considered evidence of how bad their quality was. Now the Japenese car companies are having recall issues, it's all excuses and pardons for engineering faults. If GM or Ford had this same acceleration issue, the tone and language would have been swift and fatal. Toyota will spin this problem like they always do. They blamed human error, floor mats, now suppliers. Don't ever question their engineering. They never make mistakes.
You know... if enough companies start recalling vehicles maybe people will actually test drive different cars instead of relying on mass media/fan boy perception to decide for them.
I actually think this is a GREAT time to have a recall, so long as your company's name isn't Toyota. Right now, the vast majority of the attention is aimed at them, you could do all kinds of things and most of the media wouldn't notice. Well, probably.
Geo - agreed. This is just the right time to come clean on everything in your closet. The Toyota problem will shield them from too much blowback. Road - I'm not sure Toyota is getting a pass on this. Toyota is getting battered right now. That said, Toyota and Honda have reputations they can damage for a reason....they generally build a reliable and quality product. On the contrary, most of the American built vehicles I've owned have sadly been pretty poor in that regard. It's a shame.