Honda recalls over 72,000 City sedans in India

In the second biggest recall in the Indian automobile history, Japanese car major Honda Monday said it will call back 72,115 units of its mid-sized sedan City in New Delhi to replace the defective power window switches.

Honda, which is present in India through a joint venture with the Siel Group -- Honda Siels Cars India -- said the recall will be for the model made in India from 2005 to 2007.

"Honda extends the power window switch replacement to 72,115 units of City in India... HSCI is carrying out the part replacement as part of a global exercise by Honda Motor Company to ensure stringent quality standards for its products," the company said in a statement.

The replacement will be free of cost and owners will be contacted to carry out the exercise smoothly, it added.

"Although no incident has been reported in India, HSCI is extending the same exercise to the previously sold Honda City manufactured in from 2005 to 2007," it said.

Honda Motor Co is recalling 9.36 lakh cars, including hatchback Jazz, City and sports utility vehicle CR-V, globally due to defective power window switches.

HSCI, however, said the global recall does not impact the Jazz and CR-V sold in India.

The company said the third generation City, which it sells in India at present, is not affected by the recall.

The latest recall comes at a time when HSCI has been struggling to keep the sales counter ticking in India. In the April-July period this fiscal, the company's total sales have fallen 25.99% at 12,526 units, mainly due to supply issues from Japan on account of the earthquake and tsunami.

The current recall is the second largest such exercises witnessed by the Indian automobile industry so far after the market leader Maruti Suzuki India's (MSI) one lakh recall of its hatchback A-Star.