Jaguar Land Rover Ltd on Friday said it is recalling nearly 36,500 Range Rover Evoque sport utility vehicles (SUVs), after local media reported the British luxury car maker used faulty gearboxes.
Jaguar Land Rover earlier apologized for gearbox issues via its micro-blog after being criticized by state television on Sunday along with peers Volkswagen AG and Nissan Motor Co.
The automaker is already under the spotlight of Chinese regulators investigating possible anti-competitive behaviour in the world’s largest auto market, where the firm has said slowing growth is likely to halve its sales expansion rate this year.
The Chinese state television criticised Land Rover for gearbox problems in some of its vehicles in a consumer show that also targeted Volkswagen and Nissan
The recall affects its Range Rover Evoque SUVs and the car maker will extend the warranty period for the affected vehicles’ gearboxes.
A CCTV show on Sunday had accused the UK car maker of failing to respond to customer complaints over the gearboxes.
Nissan, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz’ joint ventures in China were accused of over-charging customers at its service outlets. All of them have apologized.
Jaguar Land Rover recently invested in the world’s biggest car market, by opening its first £1bn Chinese production factory near Shanghai in October.
Shares of the company’s Indian parent Tata Motors were down 1.5% in Mumbai.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV has targeted foreign companies on World Consumer Rights Day on March 15 in the past, with notable brands like Apple and McDonald’s facing criticism.
