Faulty Ciaz? Maruti to repair car free of cost

Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), the country's largest car maker, has initiated a service campaign to inspect a probable fault and replace a part of the clutch operation system in the Ciaz, its mid-size sedan. 

The campaign will affect 3,796 Ciaz units (manual transmission) that Maruti Suzuki made till November 7 this year, the company said. The inspection and replacement will be done free of cost to the customer. 

The company said it will undertake a service campaign for these cars in the interest of customers and dealers have started communicating with owners of the impacted vehicles. 

A company spokesperson clarified, "Kindly note that the initiative for the Ciaz is not a recall. It is a Service Campaign, undertaken in the interest of customers to minimise any future inconvenience. Service Campaigns are undertaken globally by automobile companies to rectify faults that may potentially cause inconvenience to customers."

MSIL launched the Ciaz with an introductory price starting at Rs 6.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) in October this year.

The petrol variants are priced between Rs 6.99 lakh and Rs 9.34 lakh, while the diesel models are priced between Rs 8.04 lakh and Rs 9.8 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). 

In April, MSIL had recalled 103,311 units of its Ertiga, Swift and DZire models manufactured between November 12, 2013, and February 4, 2014, to replace faulty fuel filler neck.

Again in September, the company had recalled 69,555 units of DZire, Swift and Ritz models manufactured between March 2010 and August 2013, to repair a wiring harness fitment. 

Ever since the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers started voluntary vehicle recalls for safety-related issues in India in July 2012, about 700,000 vehicles have been recalled by various manufacturers, including by Ford, Mahindra & Mahindra, Honda, General Motors, and Nissan.