Subaru, Suzuki scare: SA owners safe

JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng - Subaru SA has announced that local owners of their products need not be concerned about the global recall involving its vehicles. Suzuki South Africa has also reassured owners about the safety concerns of the Swift model does not affect local owners.

Subaru SA's Ashley Lazarus has announced that local Subaru owners can rest easy - recent global recalls do not affect any South African vehicles according to the automaker's South African marketing manager, .

Lazarus said: "Product recalls are never nice to announce and Subaru is taking a very proactive approach to the problems which affect some of our vehicles globally. While the problems, which include improper inflation of passenger-side air bags supplied to Subaru in Japan, as well as potential corrosion of brake lines in markets where salt is used on icy roads, have not yet resulted in any vehicle performing dangerously or with fault."

CORRECTIVE MEASURES

The automaker says corrective measures in other countries include replacing air bags and brake lines and anti-corrosive wax.

Lazarus added: "In light of this, global recalls of certain Legacy, Outback, Forester and Impreza models manufactured between 2003 and 2009 have been implemented in affected markets in North America, South America, Europe and Asia.

"Subarus in South Africa are not affected."

SUZUKI SPEAKS

Concerns about the safety of the Suzuki Swift 1.2 that is assembled in India have emerged after a recent Global NCAP crash test but Suzuki SA says they are not relevant to units sold in South Africa. Charl Grobler, sales and product manager at Suzuki Auto SA, said the test was conducted on two different grades of the Suzuki Swift: the Indian basic spec model and the Latin American export spec version.

Grobler said: "The Swift 1.2 offered in SA is the export spec which comes with anti-lock brakes and two front air bags. Therefore, the zero safety score is not applicable to the locally available Swift model."

The Global NCAP test conducted on the export model as sold in SA resulted in a three-star rating. The Swift 1.2 also meets all SA regulations and compulsory specifications as set out by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications - previously known as SABS - the automaker says.

Grobler points out that SA customers seeking an even higher level of active and passive safety can opt for the Swift 1.4 or Swift Sport. These models benefit from additional safety systems, including six air bags, brake assist and electronic brake-force distribution for the ABS, and electronic stability control.