BMW hit by recall of 143,215 China cars

A Chinese joint venture of German carmaker BMW will recall more than 140,000 cars in the world's largest auto market over power steering defects, China's quality watchdog said yesterday.

BMW Brilliance Automotive will next month start recalling 143,215 5-series cars made in the three years from August 2009, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China said in a statement.

BMW Brilliance, a 50-50 joint venture with Brilliance China Automotive Holdings, will replace defective plugs on the vehicles that could cause safety hazards, the quality inspector said.

The planned recall comes after BMW in late July failed to get Chinese government approval for a 9.2 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) plant expansion scheme in Shenyang, capital of northeastern Liaoning Province.

In a statement posted on July 26, China's environmental protection ministry said it had rejected a BMW Brilliance proposal to expand a production facility as it failed to pass environmental tests.

China became the world's largest auto market in 2009.

Consulting firm McKinsey forecasts China's passenger car market to grow an average of eight percent annually through to 2020, when sales will reach 22 million.