Chery respond to asbestos problems

Great Wall and Chery both announced Wednesday that they will provide free replacement of engine and exhaust gaskets containing asbestos, following an alert from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

he ACCC issued a notice Wednesday saying that about 23,000 cars manufactured by the two brands use asbestos, a hazardous substance that is prohibited in Australia. The material is used in gaskets in engines and exhaust systems.

he commission said that the two companies had to recall the affected vehicles and instruct dealers to suspend sales. It also required the companies to organize replacements of parts for engine and exhaust systems of the affected cars.

reat Wall said Thursday that it will take responsibility for the affected cars and Great Wall dealers in Australia will provide free replacements.

This incident is due to the different standards of material use between China and Australia," said Shang Yugui, vice president of Great Wall's sales department. "There are no strict regulations on the use of asbestos in China, but it has been prohibited in Australia since 2004."

Great Wall has stopped using asbestos since April and will rethink its exports policy, said Shang.

hery announced Wednesday that it will recall 2,445 affected cars to replace spare parts containing asbestos. The cause of the incident is that some of these parts, which were supposed to be used in models bound for other markets, were used in cars exported to Australia by mistake.

Chery has stopped using asbestos in spare parts since July and follow-up troubleshooting has started in all our factories," said a PR employee.

The ACCC alert will not greatly affect their sales of Great Wall and Chery, since the asbestos in the engine and exhaust does no direct harm to car owners," said Zeng Zhiling, director of LMC Automotive Asia Pacific Forecasting.