Volvo asked to recall 300,000 cars in USA
Volvo Personvagnar are facing their most expensive vehicle recall so far. The final bill could end up at well over 1 billion kronor. The problem lies with a faulty carburettor fitted to V70, S80, S60 and C70 models between 1998 and 2001 - mostly at the car giant's Torslanda factory in Gothenburg.
When Volvo switched supplier in 2002, the problems stopped.
The revelations were made in an article in the Los Angeles Times. Volvo press chief, Christer Gustafsson, said that 120,000 cars of the same model were sold in Sweden, but that it's not known at the moment how many of them had the faulty carburettor.
The US authority responsible for air quality, the Environmental Protection Agency, are putting pressure on Volvo to change all carburettors on the relevant models. According to the Los Angeles Times, that amounts to over 300,000 cars in the US. The EPA met Volvo in February and rejected their arguments that they'd taken all reasonable steps and that they didn't have any obligations once the warranty expired.
Volvo also face a law suit in California brought by Volvo owners. The plaintiffs claim that the company carried out free repairs for customers who made vocal complaints, whilst telling others that they'd caused the fault themselves by using the wrong petrol.
It's also claimed that the repairs Volvo carried out were only designed to last until the expiry of the warranty, after which owners would have pay for repairs themselves.
Gustafsson was unable to provide any information beyond that in the Los Angeles Times article, but seemed sceptical to the revelations:
"I'm not aware of the problem in Sweden. It it's such a fundamental problem, it should have cropped up in other markets."
Last September, Volvo recalled 460,000 cars due to a faulty fan. The bill of over 1 billion kronor was shared between Volvo and their supplier, Bosch.
Sources: Göteborgs Posten
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When Volvo switched supplier in 2002, the problems stopped.
The revelations were made in an article in the Los Angeles Times. Volvo press chief, Christer Gustafsson, said that 120,000 cars of the same model were sold in Sweden, but that it's not known at the moment how many of them had the faulty carburettor.
The US authority responsible for air quality, the Environmental Protection Agency, are putting pressure on Volvo to change all carburettors on the relevant models. According to the Los Angeles Times, that amounts to over 300,000 cars in the US. The EPA met Volvo in February and rejected their arguments that they'd taken all reasonable steps and that they didn't have any obligations once the warranty expired.
Volvo also face a law suit in California brought by Volvo owners. The plaintiffs claim that the company carried out free repairs for customers who made vocal complaints, whilst telling others that they'd caused the fault themselves by using the wrong petrol.
It's also claimed that the repairs Volvo carried out were only designed to last until the expiry of the warranty, after which owners would have pay for repairs themselves.
Gustafsson was unable to provide any information beyond that in the Los Angeles Times article, but seemed sceptical to the revelations:
"I'm not aware of the problem in Sweden. It it's such a fundamental problem, it should have cropped up in other markets."
Last September, Volvo recalled 460,000 cars due to a faulty fan. The bill of over 1 billion kronor was shared between Volvo and their supplier, Bosch.
Sources: Göteborgs Posten
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