Recently, a large-scale recall has brought Honda vehicles to the attention of the industry and consumers. Honda announced that it will recall approximately 113 products in Japan80,000 cars, these models include 26 models such as Fit and Odyssey.
Honden understands that the reason for this Honda recall is that the low-pressure fuel pump impeller (made of resin) has a low density, which may cause it to be deformed. As a result, in the worst cases, the problem can cause the engine to stall suddenly. The fuel pumps involved in this recall are manufactured by Denso, Japan's largest auto parts manufacturer.
In fact, this is the sixth time that Honda has recalled the fuel pump of the same manufacturer. So far, Honda has received 422 reports of failures, but fortunately there have been no accidents.
In addition, Honda has announced a vehicle improvement plan similar to the recall system, involving a total of about 53 of its 14 models20,000 cars due to a defective parking brake pedal that can be more laborious when pedaling.
As for whether there are any related problems in the Chinese market, Honda has not yet confirmed whether it will affect Chinese consumers. However, after the round-trip inquiry, it was found that in the Chinese market, Honda's two joint ventures in China, Guangqi Honda and Dongfeng Honda, had also initiated a recall due to problems with fuel pumps.
Due to the imperfect resin molding conditions in the manufacturing process of fuel pump impellers, the resin density of the impeller is insufficient. In May 2020, Guangqi Honda and Dongfeng Honda announced that they would recall domestic vehicles manufactured between July 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018 from June 1, 2020, covering a number of domestically produced Odyssey, Guandao, Binzhi, Fit, Lingpai, Accord, Civic, Spire, CR-V, UR-V, and Elysian, with a total number of about 77480,000 units.
Subsequently, in December of the same year, Guangqi Honda and Dongfeng Honda expanded the scope of the recall, announcing a total of about 108 recalls from March 31, 202180,000 vehicles, the reason for the recall is also a problem with the vehicle's fuel pump.
At that time, Guangqi Honda and Dongfeng Honda said that the reason for the expansion of the recall was that through further in-depth investigation, it was confirmed that more vehicles may be equipped with substandard fuel pumps, which may cause potential safety hazards such as the failure of vehicles to supply fuel normally.
In the view of Wheelpass, the number of large-scale recall events exceeding one million will have a certain degree of impact on the reputation and image of the Honda brand. Although the current recall scope is limited to the Japanese market, it cannot be ruled out that the scope of the recall will be expanded in the future, and even the Chinese car market will also be recalled, if this happens, it will undoubtedly be a damage to the Honda brand.
According to the data, in the first 11 months of this year, Honda's cumulative sales of terminal vehicles in China were 106830,000 units. Guangqi Honda's sales in November were 6170,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 3180%；The cumulative sales volume from January to November was 56110,000 units, down 1789%。From January to October, Dongfeng Honda sold 47340,000 units, down 16% year-on-year, including 2 new energy vehicles550,000 units, up 10% y/y.
Obviously, the market performance of the "two books" this year is not very impressive, and it can even be called "a little struggling". In early December, Honda said it would lay off about 900 contract workers at its Chinese joint venture, Guangqi Honda. It is reported that this layoff is also the first layoff in the 25 years since Honda Motor and GAC jointly produced cars in 1998.
Statistics show that in the first 10 months of this year, the market share of Japanese passenger cars was 145%, compared to 187% compared to 42%。It can be seen that in the face of the rise of Chinese auto brands, the hot sales of new energy vehicles and the fierce battle in the Chinese market, the market share of Honda, Toyota and even the entire Japanese car brand in China is declining, and the pressure in China is increasing.
In the case of another predicament, it is still unknown whether Honda's large-scale recall in Japan will be extended to the Chinese market and whether it will have an impact on Guangqi Honda and Dongfeng Honda, and Wheel Transmission will continue to pay attention to the follow-up progress of this incident.