| The Volzhsky Automobile Plant, whose cars at the “People's Brand is Our Choice” ceremony on March 14 once again received the title of the most popular among Russians, is again forced to make excuses to its customers. For the third time in the last two years, AvtoVAZ is recalling cars with steering faults. The plant's press release issued on Saturday reported that the decision to force the replacement of defective bolts securing the fork to the steering shaft on 900 VAZ-2104, VAZ-2105, VAZ-2107 and VAZ-2121 vehicles produced at the beginning of the month was made another week back. All service enterprises of the plant were familiarized with the directive.
However, according to news agencies, there are many more defective cars. More than 7.5 thousand cars will be recalled to AvtoVAZ warranty service stations to eliminate the defect, including 87 VAZ-2104, 82 VAZ-2115, 467 VAZ-2107 and 7.211 thousand VAZ-2121 Niva SUVs. Defects in the steering of Zhiguli cars have been discovered more than once. In February last year, about a thousand Niva SUVs that rolled off the assembly line at the end of December 2001 and beginning of January 2002 were recalled. The defect in the power steering that was discovered at that time had a potential threat to the life of the driver, since it could lead to an unexpected loss of vehicle controllability. In March of the same year, another 4.875 thousand cars of front-wheel drive models VAZ-21083, VAZ-2112 were recalled due to inconsistencies in the quality of the bolts securing the caliper to the steering knuckle.
It is not yet known how many defective cars found their owners this time. The press release states that "most of the cars are still with dealers." It was not possible to contact either plant representatives or official dealers over the weekend. Analysts found it difficult to predict the development of the situation. “It all depends on the regions in which the cars were sold,” says Andrei Kormilitsyn from Troika Dialog Investment Company. “If in Togliatti, then most of them may already be sold.” Without explaining the reasons for the malfunctions, the AvtoVAZ public relations department hastened to assure that the detected defect does not pose a danger to the life of the driver, and promised that the owners of the cars affected by the recall would receive telegrams inviting them to undergo free repairs.
By eliminating defects at its own expense, AvtoVAZ is approaching European standards of consumer-manufacturer relationships. Recalling faulty cars and promptly repairing them at the expense of car factories under the slogan “Care for the consumer” is a traditional practice of many global automakers. Meanwhile, in the conditions of the Russian market, analysts believe, a repeatedly identified defect can cause a blow to the plant’s image. Yana VIKTOROVA
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