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Category: Automotive

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Auto and Car news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Hyundai resumes production in China after supply hiccup

    Hyundai resumes production in China after supply hiccup

    Hyundai Motor said on Wednesday it had resumed production in China after a supply disruption forced the suspension of operations last week, complicating its efforts to lift sagging sales in the world’s biggest auto market.

    The production stoppage, although resolved, adds to investor concerns after the South Korean carmaker posted its smallest quarterly profit in five years amid political headwinds linked to diplomatic tensions between Seoul and Beijing.

    Hyundai had to cut production at its four factories in China earlier this year due to slumping sales. Its fifth China factory was scheduled to start production this month.

    Hyundai Motor’s sales from its Chinese factories plummeted 64 percent to 105,000 vehicles in April-June alone.

    “The effects of the China production halt are yet unclear, but Hyundai’s third-quarter results are likely to be lower than the previous quarter partly due to continued weak performance in China,” said Park Sang-won, analyst at Heungkuk Securities.

    Hyundai shares pared losses after skidding to their lowest level in more than four months on Wednesday, falling as much as 3.8 percent. They were trading down 0.4 percent at 0504 GMT, compared to a flat wider market .KS11.

    Hyundai said earlier on Wednesday its joint venture with China’s BAIC Motor  began shutting down production last week after a fuel-tank components supplier refused to provide parts due to non-payment.

    BAIC declined to comment and Reuters could not immediately reach the joint venture, Beijing Hyundai, for comment.

    South Korean firms are weathering a Chinese backlash over Seoul’s decision to deploy a U.S. missile defense system to counter threats from nuclear-armed North Korea. China says the system poses a threat to its national security.

    Hyundai’s weak brand image has put it at a disadvantage in China versus local and global rivals such as Honda Motor (7267.T), Toyota Motor (7203.T) and General Motors (GM.N), which all saw higher China sales for last month.

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  • Sales at Toyota’s Lexus brand slide in first-half as sedans suffer

    Sales at Toyota’s Lexus brand slide in first-half as sedans suffer

    Toyota Motor on Friday said its luxury Lexus brand suffered its first fall in half-year global sales in six years as demand for its sedans tumbled in the United States, its biggest market.

    Sedans, traditionally a mainstay for automakers including Toyota and Honda Motor, have fallen out of favor in their key U.S. market in past years, sending many carmakers scrambling to manufacture more larger vehicles including SUVs and trucks.

    Toyota said it sold 305,169 Lexus vehicles worldwide in the six months to June, down 4.4 percent from 319,275 vehicles a year earlier. Sales slumped 10 percent in the United States, which comprises nearly half of Lexus’s global sales, and 23 percent in Japan, while jumping 30 percent in China.

    “The U.S. passenger car market has been very challenging, and this has affected sales,” Toyota spokesman Maki Niimi said.

    He added that the automaker expects annual sales to slide about 4.0 percent this year to around 650,000 units, as the recently launched LC sports coupe model and a revamped version of its marquee LS sedan model later this year lift sales slightly in the coming months.

    While Lexus continues to enjoy solid U.S. sales of its NX SUV crossover model, analysts said that the brand overall had fallen behind rival luxury brands with newer sedan offerings including Daimler AG’s Mercedes, which recently launched its E-Class range, and BMW’s 5-series.

    “It’s a model cycle issue,” said Janet Lewis, head of Asia transportation research at Macquarie Securities. “You have two core competing products recently launched (by Mercedes and BMW), while the LS is pretty long in the tooth.”

    Lexus sold just 1,855 units of its LS 460 model in the United States in January-June, down 35.2 percent from a year earlier.

    Overall, Toyota, the world’s second-biggest automaker, expects to sell 10.25 million vehicles globally this year, down a touch from last year.

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  • Renault-Nissan to set up new China JV with Dongfeng Motor for electric cars

    Renault-Nissan to set up new China JV with Dongfeng Motor for electric cars

    Nissan Motor and its alliance partner Renault are setting up a new joint venture in China with Dongfeng Motor Group to design and build electric cars, joining a list of global automakers aiming to make such vehicles in China.

    The automakers are attempting to tap into a boom for such cleaner “new energy” vehicles in the world’s biggest auto market and gearing up to meet its anticipated stringent plug-in car quotas.

    Ford Motor Co announced earlier this month it was exploring setting up a joint venture with car maker Anhui Zotye Automobile Co to build electric vehicles in China under a new brand.

    Tesla, Daimler AG and General Motors have already announced plans for making electric vehicles in China, which wants electric and plug-in hybrid cars to make up at least a fifth of the country’s auto sales by 2025.

    The new joint venture, called eGT New Energy Automotive Co, will be owned 25 percent each by Nissan and Renault with Dongfeng owning 50 percent, Nissan and Renault said in a statement on Tuesday.

    They said eGT will design a new electric vehicle on a subcompact crossover SUV platform of the Renault-Nissan alliance.

    “The establishment of the new joint venture with Dongfeng confirms our common commitment to develop competitive electric vehicles for the Chinese market,” Carlos Ghosn, chairman and chief executive officer of the Renault-Nissan alliance, said in the statement.

    The statement did not give details of financial commitments of the joint venture partners or say by when the vehicles will be launched. Dongfeng already partners Nissan in China.

    Both Nissan and Renault already market electric cars. Nissan’s Leaf compact hatchback has become the world’s top-selling electric car since its launch in 2010, while Renault began selling its Zoe model in 2012.

    The game changer for global automakers, many of whom until recently have resisted an industry shift to heavily electrified vehicles, is China – an auto market with strong potential for growth where stringent policies favoring cleaner energy cars are being aggressively pursued.

    Under China’s latest proposals, electric vehicle sales quotas, which are expected to take effect as early as 2018, are due to require 8 percent of automakers’ sales to be battery electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles by next year, rising to 10 percent in 2019 and 12 percent in 2020.

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  • Auto industry calls for luxury tax cut on sedans

    Auto industry calls for luxury tax cut on sedans

    The Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers Association (Gaikindo) chairman Jongkie Sugiarto said on Tuesday that the association had long lobbied the Finance Ministry to reduce the luxury tax on sedans.

    He said the cut in luxury tax for sedans from 30 to 10 percent, a similar rate for multi-purpose vehicles, would encourage producers to manufacture more sedans, not only for the domestic market but also for export.

    “Because of cheaper taxes, Indonesia has now become the king of MPVs, but our exports are just 200,000 units per year, from a total production of 1.3 million,” Jongkie said during a discussion on the automotive industry organized by the Indonesian Business Data Center (PDBI) in Jakarta on Tuesday.

    “Thailand produces 2 million units of vehicles per year, but it exports 1.2 million because they produce everything from sedans and pickups to MPVs. The Thai government also does not discriminate in the taxes on the automotive products.”

    He said Gaikindo had already hired experts at University of Indonesia’s Institute for Economic and Social Research (LPEM UI) to carry out independent research on the issue and the result was that a luxury-tax cut on sedans would increase sales by 17 percent.

    This year, Gaikindo’s efforts received support from Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto, but it was still struggling to convince the Finance Ministry.

    “We have lobbied for so long [the Finance Ministry], but it has not moved,” Jongkie said, adding that the association had proposed the tax cut since 2011. (bbn)

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  • Autosports Group announecs acquisition of BMW Melbourne

    Autosports Group announecs acquisition of BMW Melbourne

    Autosports Group Ltd acquisition of Bmw Melbourne.

    Expects to pay for the bmw melbourne businesses a consideration of approximately $22 million.

    Unit enters agreement with bmw melbourne to buy businesses such as bmw melbourne ,mini garage melbourne ,south bank motor cycles and bmw body shop.

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  • Germany draws up rules of the road for driverless cars

    Germany draws up rules of the road for driverless cars

    Protecting people rather than property or animals will be the priority under pioneering new German legal guidelines for the operation of driverless cars, the transport ministry said on Wednesday.

    Germany is home to some of the world’s largest car companies, including Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW, all of which are investing heavily in self-driving technology.

    German regulators have been working on rules for how such vehicles should be programmed to deal with a dilemma, such as choosing between hitting a cyclist or accelerating beyond legal speeds to avoid an accident.

    Under new ethical guidelines – drawn up by a government-appointed committee comprising experts in ethics, law and technology – the software that controls such cars must be programmed to avoid injury or death of people at all cost.

    That means that when an accident is unavoidable, the software must choose whichever action will hurt people the least, even if that means destroying property or hitting animals in the road, a transport ministry statement showed.

    The software may not decide on its course of action based on the age, sex or physical condition of any people involved.

    “The interactions of humans and machines is throwing up new ethical questions in the age of digitalization and self-learning systems,” German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said in a statement.

    “The ministry’s ethics commission has pioneered the cause and drawn up the world’s first set of guidelines for automated driving,” he added.

    Germany earlier this year passed legislation under which a driver must be sitting behind the wheel at all times ready to take back control if prompted to do so by the autonomous vehicle, clearing the way for the development and testing of self-driving cars.

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  • Bapcor books growth at Autobarn

    Bapcor books growth at Autobarn

    Autobarn owner, Bapcor, has recorded a 50.9 per cent increase in net-profit-after-tax to $65.8 million for the year ended 30 June, excluding costs related to its Hellaby Holdings acquisition.

    Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased by 52.4 per cent to $117.4 million, with its retail and services segment, including Autobarn and Autopro booked a 30.3 per cent increase in earnings.

    Same-store sales growth at Autobarn increased by 2 per cent during the year, the total network now standing at 122 after the opening of eight new locations.

    The company has decided to divest Hellaby’s footwear portfolio, including the New-Zealand based Hannahs, Hush Puppies, Pulp and Number One Shoes brands, classifying the business as discontinued operations as it looks to sell the companies.

    “FY17 was again a transformative year with the acquisition of Hellaby making us Australasia’s leading automotive aftermarket supplier with over 850 locations,” CEO Darryl Abotomey said.

    “We are very pleased with the full year results in which the trade, retail and service and specialist wholesale businesses all recorded year-on-year improvements.”

    Bapcor moved to increase its proportion of company-owned Autobarn stores during the year, with 25 per cent, or 31 of the total store network now owned by Bapcor itself.

    Click and collect sales increased 45 per cent for the year, helping to underpin a 28.3 per cent increase in revenue for the division.

    Looking ahead, Bapcor said it expects “another strong year of revenue and profit growth” in FY18, with a full 12 months trading from the Hellaby acquisition, plus continued growth across the business. The automotive group has forecast NPAT growth from continuing operations of circa 30 per cent.

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  • Hyundai will launch pickup, more SUVs to reverse U.S. sales slide

    Hyundai will launch pickup, more SUVs to reverse U.S. sales slide

    Hyundai Motor plans to launch a pickup truck in the United States as part of a broader plan to catch up with a shift away from sedans in one of the Korean automaker’s most important markets, a senior company executive told Reuters.

    Michael J. O’Brien, vice president of corporate and product planning at Hyundai’s U.S. unit, said Hyundai’s top management has given the green light for development of a pickup truck similar to a show vehicle called the Santa Cruz that U.S. Hyundai executives unveiled in 2015.

    Hyundai currently does not offer a pickup truck in the United States.

    O’Brien also said Hyundai plans to launch a small SUV called the Kona in the United States later this year.

    People familiar with the automaker’s plans said the pick-up truck is expected to be launched in 2020.

    They said separately that Hyundai plans to introduce three other new or refreshed SUVs by 2020.

    Under the plan, Hyundai Motor plans to roll out a new version of its Santa Fe Sport mid-sized SUV next year, followed by an all-new 7-passenger crossover which will replace a current three-row Santa Fe in early 2019 in the United Sates. A redesigned Tucson SUV is expected in 2020.

    So-called crossovers – sport utilities built on chassis similar to sedans – now account for about 30 percent of total light vehicle sales in the United States. Consumers in China, the world’s largest auto market, are also substituting car-based SUVs for sedans.

    Hyundai’s U.S. dealers have pushed the company to invest more aggressively in SUVs and trucks as demand for sedans such as the midsize Sonata and the smaller Elantra has waned.

    “We are optimistic about the future,” said Scott Fink, chief executive of Hyundai of New Port Richey, Florida, which is Hyundai’s biggest U.S. dealer. “But we are disappointed that we don’t have the products today.”

    Hyundai’s U.S. sales are down nearly 11 percent this year through July 31, worse than the overall 2.9 percent decline in U.S. car and light truck sales. Sales of the Sonata, once a pillar of Hyundai’s U.S. franchise, have fallen 30 percent through the first seven months of 2017. In contrast, sales of Hyundai’s current SUV lineup are up 11 percent for the first seven months of this year.

    “Our glasses are fairly clean,” O’Brien said. “We understand where we have a shortfall.”

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  • Carmakers agree to update software of 600,000 diesel cars

    Carmakers agree to update software of 600,000 diesel cars

    Austria’s Transport Minister Joerg Leichtfried said on Tuesday he had agreed with carmakers to update the software of 600,000 diesel cars to reduce pollution following a similar deal struck in Germany after a large-scale emissions scandal.

    Leichtfried said the deal also included extra payments to buyers of more environmentally friendly cars. He said that for potential buyers of electric cars all available financial help could add up to around 10,000 euros ($11,750) per vehicle.

    The exact amount of incentives, which will come in addition to existing government sweeteners for e-car buyers, will be decided and paid by the carmakers depending on the model of the vehicle exchanged for an old car, the spokesman of Austrian car importers association Guenther Kerle said.

    The Transport Ministry said representatives of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Kia, Ford, Renault, Porsche, Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda, Hyundai, Mitsubishi Motors and Opel attended the meeting.

    VW, Mercedes, Renault and possibly BMW will undertake the software updates, and the others will just take part in the incentives programme, the ministry said.

    German politicians and car bosses agreed earlier this month to overhaul engine software on 5.3 million diesel cars to try to repair the industry’s battered reputation.

    However, environmentalists said the plan – almost two years after Volkswagen admitted to cheating U.S. diesel emissions tests – was too little, too late.

    The Austrian software update, which would take until spring next year and which carmakers say can reduce toxic nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions by 25-30 percent, is the same as in Germany, Kerle said.

    Critics of the German plan have said software updates would only result in a cut of about 2-3 percent of emissions.

    Leichtfried and Kerle said there was no agreement on hardware updates, but that this would be discussed at future meetings.

  • Hyundai plans long-range premium electric car in strategic shift

    Hyundai plans long-range premium electric car in strategic shift

    Hyundai said on Thursday it was placing electric vehicles at the center of its product strategy – one that includes plans for a premium long-distance electric car as it seeks to catch up to Tesla and other rivals.

    Like Toyota Motor, Hyundai had initially championed fuel cell technology as the future of eco-friendly vehicles but has found itself shifting electric as Tesla shot to prominence and battery-powered cars have gained government backing in China.

    Toyota is now also working on longer distance, fast-charging electric vehicles, local media have reported.

    The South Korean automaker is planning to launch an electric sedan under its high-end Genesis brand in 2021 with a range of 500 km (310 miles) per charge. It will also introduce an electric version of its Kona small sport utility vehicle (SUV) with a range of 390 km in the first half of next year.

    “We’re strengthening our eco-friendly car strategy, centering on electric vehicles,” Executive Vice President Lee Kwang-guk told a news conference, calling the technology mainstream and realistic.

    The automaker and affiliate Kia, which together rank fifth in global vehicle sales, also said they were adding three plug-in vehicles to their plans for eco-friendly cars, bringing the total to 31 models by 2020.

    Underscoring Hyundai’s electric shift, those plans include eight battery-powered and two fuel-cell vehicles – a contrast to its 2014 announcement for 22 models, of which only two were slated to be battery-powered.

    Hyundai also confirmed a Reuters report that it is developing its first dedicated electric vehicle platform, which will allow the company to produce multiple models with longer driving ranges.

    Last year, it launched its first mass-market pure electric car IONIQ, but the vehicle’s per-charge driving range is much shorter than offerings from Tesla and General Motors (GM.N).

    HYDROGEN SUV

    Hyundai unveiled a near production version of its new fuel cell SUV with a driving range of more than 580 km per charge, compared with the 415 km for its current Tucson fuel cell SUV.

    The mid-sized SUV will be launched in Korea early next year, followed by U.S. and European markets.

    A fuel cell electric bus is slated to be unveiled late this year, while a sedan-type fuel cell car is also planned. Even so, analysts noted that gaining traction with fuel cells was going to be a long hard slog partly due to a lack of charging infrastructure.

    “Hyundai will achieve economies of scale for fuel cell cars by 2035 at the earliest,” said Lee Hang-koo, a senior research fellow at Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade.

    “Before that, Hyundai has no choice but to rely on battery cars,” he said.

    Hyundai launched the world’s first mass-produced fuel cell vehicle in 2013, dubbed the Tucson Fuel Cell, but sales trailed Toyota’s rival offering, Mirai.

    Hyundai has sold about 862 of Tucson Fuel Cell vehicles since its 2013 launch, while Toyota sold some 3,700 Mirai Fuel Cell vehicles since its 2014 launch.

    In Korea, there are 10 fuel cell charging stations, only one tenth of 100 in Japan, Hyundai said.

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  • VW gives green light for electric version of classic Microbus camper van

    VW gives green light for electric version of classic Microbus camper van

    Volkswagen has decided to go ahead with production of an electric version of its classic Microbus camper van as it seeks to boost its electric vehicle credentials.

    The potential battery-powered revamp of the van, known as the Bulli in Germany, was first announced at the Detroit auto show in January.

    “After the presentations at the global motor shows in Detroit and Geneva, we received a large number of letters and emails from customers who said, ‘please build this car’,” Volkswagen brand chief Herbert Diess said in a statement.

    The electric van, known as the ID Buzz, will go on sale in 2022 and VW said it will target customers in North America, Europe and China. The company will also build a cargo version of the van, it added.

    Tesla, headed by Elon Musk, has shaken up the auto industry with its ambition to build a mass market for electric cars, posing a competitive threat to established manufacturers that remain reliant on producing cars with combustion engines.

    VW plans to have more than 30 all-electric models by 2025.

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  • Delphi partners with Innoviz for self-driving technology

    Delphi partners with Innoviz for self-driving technology

    Delphi Automotive said on Friday it has partnered with laser-based sensor maker Innoviz Technologies to improve vehicle safety for self-driving cars, after making a minority investment in the Israel-based company.

    Innoviz’s LiDAR technology allows self-driving cars to identify objects at far distances, allowing them to travel at high speeds safely, Delphi said.

    Many self-driving experts regard LiDAR as a crucial component, along with other sensors such as cameras and radars.

    Automakers have intensified the race to build self-driving cars and are investing in sensors that help these cars navigate on roads with poor or faded lane markings and potholes.

    Delphi, which is focusing on self-driving vehicles and advanced safety systems, has been benefiting from continued automaker interest.

    Founded in January 2016, Innoviz is backed by investors including Vertex Venture Capital and Magma Venture Partners.

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  • China’s Geely beats expectations as Volvo pays off

    China’s Geely beats expectations as Volvo pays off

    China’s Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd said on Wednesday that first-half profit more than doubled, scoring its fastest earnings growth in eight years as cars designed with its Swedish unit Volvo won over domestic consumers.

    Although known at one point more for its copycat designs and lower quality vehicles, the Hangzhou-based firm has transformed itself into an automaker with up-market aspirations.

    Vehicles engineered with Volvo know-how, such as the GC9 sedan and the Boyue sport-utility vehicle, have been hot-sellers in China, the world’s biggest auto market.

    “So far in 2017, the group’s performance has exceeded management’s original expectations despite a generally weaker market in China during the same period,” the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong bourse.

    Net profit came in at 4.34 billion yuan ($648.96 million), 128 percent higher than the 1.91 billion yuan it made in the same period a year earlier and eclipsing an estimate of 3.61 billion yuan from CCB International.

    It said it had decided not to pay an interim dividend.

    Sales jumped 89 percent in January-July and last month Geely raised its 2017 sales target by 10 percent to 1.1 million vehicles. It sold 766,000 vehicles last year.

    Geely’s parent Zhejiang Geely Holding Group owns the maker of London’s black cabs and this year acquired a 49.9 percent stake in Malaysian automaker Proton.

    The carmaker said that the business environment in its previous key export markets in Eastern Europe and the Middle East remained weak and that it would continue to operate its exports business at the current restricted scale for the rest of 2017.

    In its next phase of expansion, Geely plans to market a third brand, Lynk & Co – in developed markets next year, beginning with Europe and the United States.

    Geely also plans to use more Volvo-developed technologies including small turbo-charged gasoline engines in Geely-brand cars.

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  • VW Group, Tata end talks on emerging markets tie-up

    VW Group, Tata end talks on emerging markets tie-up

    Cooperation talks between Germany’s Volkswagen Group and India’s Tata Motors about joint development of a car for emerging markets have ended amicably, the two companies said on Thursday.

    The collapse of the talks is a further blow to Volkswagen’s (VW) efforts to develop a cheap vehicle platform for Asian markets, after an earlier alliance with Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp (7269.T) also fell apart.

    In March Tata Motors and VW announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a long-term partnership to explore joint development of products for customers in India and other markets.

    The German group’s Czech arm Skoda, commissioned by VW to lead the talks with Tata, was exploring a possible entry-level car platform together with the Indian manufacturer, using Tata’s AMP vehicle platform as a basis, a VW group source said.

    Skoda dropped the idea of developing the AMP platform on fears that it would need significant further investment to meet future crash-test and engine emissions requirements and would instead explore parent VW’s MQB platform for possible further savings, said the source, who declined to be named.

    “The two companies have come to the conclusion that at the present point of time the technical and economic synergies cannot be realized in the desired way,” Skoda said on Thursday, confirming a Reuters story.

    “We have evaluated the technical feasibility and degree of synergies for the envisioned partnership. We have concluded that the strategic benefits for both parties are below the threshold levels,” said Tata Motors Chief Executive Guenter Butschek, the German automotive and aerospace industry veteran who joined the Indian company last year.

    But the two automakers, which also studied joint development of components, did not rule out the possibility of collaboration in the future after holding what Skoda called “constructive talks” over the past five months.

    VW shares closed 0.7 percent lower at 127.15 euros. Tata Motors shares plunged 9 percent to 380.20 rupees, after the company reported lower than expected first-quarter results.

    Foreign carmakers like VW, General Motors (GM.N) and Fiat Chrysler (FCHA.MI) have struggled in India where more nimble rivals such as Maruti Suzuki (MRTI.NS) and Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) have cornered two thirds of the market.

    Tata, which is also struggling to boost sales, has been trying to turn round its loss-making domestic business by modernising its products, improving efficiency and streamlining its organization.

    In May, General Motors said it would stop selling cars in India from the end of this year, drawing a line under two decades of battling in one of the world’s most competitive markets where small cars make up the bulk of sales.

    India is expected to become the world’s third-largest car market by 2020 but passenger vehicle sales have slowed in recent months due to policy changes and a new nationwide sales tax.

    In 2009 VW attempted to break into the low-cost car market in India by forging a tie-up with Suzuki Motor Corp but the deal failed due to cultural and business differences and was ended in 2015 following a fierce legal dispute.

    The German group is looking for new overseas markets as it struggles to draw a line under its emissions scandal. In China VW has been working with joint venture partner FAW on an economy car and is planning to build affordable electric vehicles with JAC Motor (600418.SS) from next year.

    “We haven’t been able yet to claim a share of the booming business with cheap small cars and Tata means another setback in that respect,” a senior VW brand manager told Reuters. “But VW has changed a lot structurally since the Suzuki debacle, so we’ll keep trying.”

    The breakdown of talks with Tata was mainly for economic reasons rather than differences over control, as the AMP architecture turned out to be too expensive, the VW source said.

    A push by VW group headquarters to decentralize power after the dieselgate scandal and assign greater responsibilities to the individual brands and business regions for vehicles and technology will help VW find the right partner, the manager said, without being more specific.

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  • Mitsubishi, Audi recall cars in Vietnam due to safety concerns

    Mitsubishi, Audi recall cars in Vietnam due to safety concerns

    The automakers said the technical faults could cause serious damage, and they will be fixed free of charge.

    Mitsubishi Motors Vietnam has recalled 4,218 cars due to technical faults, official reports said.

    The majority of the recalled models are Pajero Sports manufactured between 2011 and 2016, but around 20 percent are Outlander Sports produced from 2014-2016.

    Explaining the recall, which may take until July 2019, Mitsubishi Motors Vietnam said the hinges on the rear doors were prone to rust because they were not completely coated in anti-corrosion paint. This meant they could fall off and injure people.

    In a separate move, Audi Vietnam has recalled 33 of its Q3 models manufactured between June 2014 and November 2016 due to a problem with their brake lights.

    Audi said the brake lights could fail if the handbrake was used to make an emergency stop.

    Official data shows Vietnamese customers bought more than 134,200 cars in the first half of this year, down 1 percent against the same period last year.

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