Maruti Suzuki recalls over 7,000 Baleno RS units on vacuum pump defect

Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest automobile manufacturer, has recalled as many as 7,213 Baleno RS cars in order to rectify a possible defect in the vacuum pump, manufactured between October 27, 2016, and November 1, 2019, the company said in a regulatory filing

"The company has announced to recall of 7,213 Baleno RS vehicles manufactured between 27th October, 2016 and 01st Nov, 2019. It is suspected that there is a possible defect in Vacuum Pump (“Parts”), which assists the brake function. In a rare case, the affected vehicle may require increased effort in brake pedal application," the stock exchange filing by the automobile manufacturer said.

"Vehicle owners will be receiving communication from Maruti Suzuki authorized dealer workshops for inspection and replacement of the affected parts, free of cost," the company added.

This is the third time this year so far that the company has recalled its vehicles in bulk owing to a possible defect. In January, the country’s largest automobile manufacturer recalled 11,177 Grand Vitara vehicles manufactured between August 8, 2022, and November 15, 2022, owing to a possible defect in rear seat belt mounting brackets. According to the company, the defect can lead to the loosening of the rear seat belt in the long run and impact its functionality. During the same month, Maruti Suzuki recalled a total of 17,362 vehicles manufactured between December 8, 2022, and January 12, 2023, due to a possible defect in the airbag controller. The affected models are Alto K10, S-Presso, Eeco, Brezza, Baleno and Grand Vitara. 

Earlier this month, Maruti Suzuki’s WagonR and Alto K10 failed the crash test conducted by vehicle safety group Global NCAP. According to the vehicular safety group , while WagonR scored one rating in the adult occupant protection category, AltoK10 scored two stars in the category. Both models scored zero ratings in the child occupant protection category. Global NCAP's updated crash test protocols include assessments of frontal and side impact protection for all tested models as well as Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and pedestrian protection. In December last year, Maruti Suzuki's three models—Swift, Ignis and S-Presso—bagged one star each in the adult occupant protection category at the Global NCAP crash tests. 

Maruti Suzuki, which has hiked the price across models beginning April this year, said that it sold the highest number of vehicles at 19.66 lakh units in FY23. Of this, the total sales include domestic sales of 16,44,876 units, with a growth of 20.5% over FY 2021-22, sales to other OEMs of 61,955 units and highest ever exports of 259,333 units.  However, in March, the company’s domestic sales dipped 1.4% to 170,071 units in March as against 1,72,535 units in February 2023 owing to a shortage of electronic components.