[SDP]

Big news!

Source & Full Article

In what can be seen as a step in the right direction, Mahindra announces that it would carry out replacement of certain parts of the XUV500. This is Mahindra’s first public recall.

The company will be replacing the following parts in a select batch of XUV500s manufactured during 2011 & 2012:

- Power-steering fluid hose
- Front power window units (including window motors)
- Left wiper blade cover. A service advisor told BHPian Abhinavinc that the older design could cause windscreen scratches

Congratulations Mahindras! For doing the right thing for the customers!

[anjan_c2007]

Comes as a relief for the XUV buyers. It is the first ever recall in the history of M & M. The woes of the XUV owners have also been brought forth on teambhp, where we had a thread dedicated to the XUV gremlins.

Lets hope M & M will keep the rocking image of the XUV flying high and leave no efforts undone, to make it continue to occupy the slot labelled " India's Most Wanted SUV."

[SDP]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

...It is the first ever recall in the history of M & M. ...

This being the first recall by M&M makes it all the more special. If a manufacturer has global ambitions, it can not shy away from global standard practices, high standards of accountability and utmost respect for the safety of the customers.

[Parthasarathig]

I was all gung ho about the eco sport when I came across this thread. I'd say way to go Mahindra. This will not only help out the current owners but also inspire confidence in us new customers to go for the Xuv knowing the parent company is doing everything it can to rectify the problems.

Keep it up Mahindra

[SDP]

Mahindra XUV5OO Facebook page has been updated:

Message from Dr. Pawan Goenka, President, Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors, Mahindra & Mahindra

Some of you will remember my post on 18 January 2012 explaining the rational of our XUV500 booking process. More than a year has passed since then and the XUV500 has proven itself to be perhaps the most successful launch in the SUV segment in recent times. So first let me convey a big ‘Thank You’ to all of you who purchased an XUV500, to all who have influenced its purchase and many of you who are just XUV500 fans.

By now we have removed the initial constraints related to production volume and have ramped up capacity to a level that matches the demand (including the AWD variant) and so…no more long wait to own an XUV500.

Today, we have over 55,000 XUV500’s on the road which have clocked over 450 million km cumulatively by our estimates. We have been humbled by the unequivocal positive feedback on the delight of owning and driving this vehicle. This, not only gives us the confidence to take the world in our stride but also the humility to improve for a better experience for our customers tomorrow.

To this end we at Mahindra are indebted to all our XUV500 customers for giving us valuable inputs on the product as well as service experience. Even after rigorous testing and adopting best in class manufacturing processes, few issues did escape our scrutiny and ended up in our customer vehicles. Here, I must admit that Mahindra is on a learning curve and I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience our customers have had because of this.

We have taken feedback from our customers and industry experts very seriously. Our teams have worked tirelessly on the root cause of every field problem even if it happened only in one out of the 55,000 vehicles sold so far. We can now confidently say that the XUV500 is almost trouble free. I say almost, because 100% perfection is ever evolving and an ongoing process.

Over the years, the Indian Automotive Industry has matured towards adopting global practices in the fields of product technology, manufacturing and quality processes. Mahindra is proud to have been a part of this journey. And today, we are taking yet another step in pursuit of our mission of being customer-centric in all that we do.

We have decided to call back few of the XUV500s to fix three concerns which warrant replacement of parts as a preventive measure. These parts are a fluid hose, front power window units and left wiper blade cover. We have now made the design more robust and decided to replace the old parts with the new parts to further give confidence to our customers that Mahindra is “With you Hamesha”. Details of the service action are on our website www.mahindraxuv500.com/service-action and customers will receive a notice to bring their vehicle to the service center to replace these parts. The improved design is already introduced in the new production vehicles.

I once again thank you for making XUV500 one of the most successful vehicle launches in recent times. As always we look forward to your continued support and feedback for improving our products and services. Your continued encouragement is what keeps driving us forward.

With best regards,
Pawan Goenka
President, Automotive and Farm Equipment Sectors
Mahindra & Mahindra ltd.

EDIT: The XUV5OO official site is also updated, so that owners can enter their VIN and check if their vehicle is recalled:

[drmohitg]

A bold and much appreciated step from M&M. I always feel that we should look at recalls positively. It really inspires confidence when you know that the company is not shying away from the product. Hope they are soon able to rectify all the niggling issues with the XUV specially the electronics as reported by the members here.

[SDP]

The news has been picked up by more channels.

The coverage on liveMint is very good:
http://www.livemint.com/Companies/d3...of-XUV500.html
Quoting interesting bits about the SIAM voluntary code of recall.

...
The recall pertains to XUV500s manufactured in 2011 and 2012. While the local arms of global auto makers have been recalling vehicles in line with their parents’ policy, Indian auto makers stopped short of calling such replacement of faulty parts recalls until the voluntary code was enforced in July 2012.

This is the recall under the code. In December 2011, Tata Motors Ltd had offered a free fix on over 70,000 units of the Nano following instances of fire, but didn’t term it a recall. Toyota Motor Corp.’s India unit recalled 8,700 units of the Corolla Altis and the Camry, following a global recall announced by its parent in October 2012.
...
The code places the onus of recalling a defective vehicle—two-wheeler, car or commercial vehicle—on the manufacturer. Drawn up by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) lobby group, it requires auto makers to display the recall information on their websites, apart from communications being sent to the vehicle owners. SIAM and the concerned government ministries, such as the ministry of heavy industries, will also display information on the recall.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The most nonsensical coverage is from Business Line (The Hindu) with a headline "Mahindra to recall some XUV500 for window glitches"
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle4488774.ece

Somebody needs to tell the Business Line that its not about the "windows". The fluid-hose is part of the power-steering assembly and that is the main part which can cause a safety concern in case of a part-failure.

The other 2 parts (window winder motors and wiper piece) can cause no real safety issue. Most likely those are listed so that the fluid-hose does not get too much of attention.

[superbhikari]

My Sept. 2012 manufactured XUV is covered under replacement action by M&M. Though i have not faced any of the said issues so far (8600 kms).

[indian21r]

Right step by Mahindra for treating its Indian Customers seriously. Love the way the letter is written by Mr. Goenka

This kind of proactive approach will surely entice a lot of new customers to their dealerships. We were looking at Rexton, but booked Innova due to lack of time. Rexton will be on our radar for the next car though

[AWD]

Welcome move, such steps will work towards instilling consumer confidence back into the product. I always admire such pro-active measures. Recent slowdown & price increase could have worked as a catalyst.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by SDP

The news has been picked up by more channels.

...
The most nonsensical coverage is from Business Line (The Hindu) with a headline "Mahindra to recall some XUV500 for window glitches"
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle4488774.ece

Somebody needs to tell the Business Line that its not about the "windows". The fluid-hose is part of the power-steering assembly and that is the main part which can cause a safety concern in case of a part-failure.

The other 2 parts (window winder motors and wiper piece) can cause no real safety issue. Most likely those are listed so that the fluid-hose does not get too much of attention.

Somebody from "Business Line" seemed to have woken up. Although the URL and the keywords are still talking about "window glitches", the title of the article has been updated to "M&M to replace XUV500 parts".

In the mean time, EconomicTimes seem to have done a "cut and paste" job about the "window glitches":
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/18869410.cms

Before ET realizes the incorrect emphasis, let me immortalize the "cut and paste" job

[swiftnfurious]

Team Mahindra - RESPECT!!! You guys have influenced me so positively! The brand was never on my radar, but the way you cared for your customers and have attacked the root causes of issues and improved upon, you guys deserve a standing ovation!!! I believe it's the leadership's qualities reflecting with these deeds.

Some of the other companies in India may please enroll for a crash course with Mahindra!

[1100D]

Hope they extend the same to Scorpio mHawk Clutch Slave Cylinder issue. Though newer scorpio's and newer CSC's are said to be better. But as far as I know, they are not completely immune to the problem.

[SDP]

One very valid comment from the XUV5OO FB page recall announcement:


Brake noise and spongy brake-feel issue should have been addressed as part of this first recall.

I can think of couple of possibilities:
1. May be the final solution for brakes is still in testing and there would be another recall once the solution is found to be adequate.
2. When vehicles come in for replacement and inspection as per the current recall, may be brake issues would also be addressed discreetly.

Announcing anything about the brakes is not going to be easy, especially with the trigger-happy media in picture. Unlike the 'fluid hose', a mention of 'pads' would raise a lot of questions and I won't be surprised if an irresponsible TV channel reports "Mahindra recalls XUV5OO for severe brake glitches".

[debuda]

Originally Posted by SDP

Brake noise and spongy brake-feel issue should have been addressed as part of this first recall.

I can think of couple of possibilities:
1. May be the final solution for brakes is still in testing and there would be another recall once the solution is found to be adequate.
2. When vehicles come in for replacement and inspection as per the current recall, may be brake issues would also be addressed discreetly.

I think you are absolutely correct in guessing the reasons for non-inclusion of the brake problem in this recall. I have a feeling that there would be a separate 'recall' for the brake issues after a few weeks (at least I hope so!). I learnt informally from the R.M. that the brake modification package may include the following :

1. Modification to the brake pedal.
2. Modification of the linkage to master cylinder.
3. Brake pads.

Another notable omission in this recall surprised me -- the Intrusion System Siren. After reading about the failures of the Siren hinge I had been asking my R.M. about a proactive replacement and he finally confirmed that it would be done in my XUV. Apparently, modifications that a particular XUV essentially needs pop-up as a reminder while accessing the XUV's service history on the M&M computer system by the A.S.S.

A few days ago my Siren was proactively replaced free of cost. You may see some pictures at http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post3060918