The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has announced that Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd will recall 555 imported Subaru Legacy vehicles sold in China in 2004 and 2005 because of faulty door handles.

The action begins on August 1.

The China representative office of the Japanese auto manufacturer says three Legacy models could be affected. They include 212 BL9 autos produced from February 12 to November 15 of last year; 193 BLE autos manufactured from November 10, 2003 to December 3, 2004, and 150 BPE vehicles produced from November 14, 2003 to December 3, 2004.

Those who bought the cars can take them to any Subaru repair and inspection station after August 1 to have the cars' doors checked.

All the door handles manufactured by the company after December 10, 2004 have been tested up to standard.

Officials said that some defective handles on back doors to the affected cars may open by themselves during driving due to faulty bearing pieces in the door handles.

The problem was in a bearing part in the door handle, Xue Jinbao, representative of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd China Representative Office, told China Daily.

Xue also said the company would replace any components found to be faulty, though he doubts that any defects would turn up in the vehicles sold in China.

"We sold more than 140,000 vehicles all over the world. Only two in Japan and one inspected in another country were found to have the defect," Xue adds. The owners were given compensation.

"It's a small problem, but we still are recalling all the vehicles for inspections since Fuji Heavy Industries always takes the customer's security as its top priority. And since we are not a fairly big auto manufacturer, service is crucial for our entire business," Xue said.

The China recall is part of an international recall announced by Fuji Heavy Industries on July 6. The company is recalling a total of 85,160 Subaru vehicles of five types that have been made since 2003 and sold outside Japan.

Fuji Heavy Industries handed in a report to the administration on February 1 this year about a recall of some vehicles because a transmission flaw could cause them to slip out of parking gear. That recall of cars and wagons included 57 Legacy Sedan 3.0L vehicles inside China.

(China Daily July 20, 2005)