"China is the world's No.1 car market in terms of sales, but in terms of quality control and consumer rights protection, it ranks last among major car-producing countries," Jia Xingguang, a Beijing-based independent auto analyst, wrote in a commentary in the Beijing Business Today on Tuesday.

The US recalled 17.8 million vehicles in 2009, worth around 170 percent of its annual sales in the same year, while Japan recalled 3.1 million vehicles in 2009, or about 68 percent of its annual sales, Jia wrote, citing data from the Defective Products Administration Center under the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ).

Meanwhile, China recalled 1.4 million cars in 2009, only one-tenth of sales in the same year, Jia said, citing the data.

The Chinese auto industry has been burgeoning over the past decade, and the Chinese government finally took measures to strengthen quality control on arguably one of the more essential products of urban life in the rapidly modernizing country.

The State Council approved the Draft Regulations on the Administration of the Recall of Defective Automobile Products on October 10, replacing the previous recall provisions issued by the AQSIQ in 2004, the State Council announced on its website.

The new rule stipulates that once a prevalent quality problem that affects the safety of a car model is discovered, the manufacturer and sellers should immediately stop production, sales and imports of the cars, issue a recall and disclose the defects, the announcement declared.

In addition, punishment for noncompliance under the new regulations was significantly increased to a maximum of 1 million yuan ($159,600) or 50 percent of the goods' value from a maximum of 30,000 yuan under the previous recall provisions.

Higher status, larger scope

The new rule issued by the State Council enjoys a higher legal status than before, because "now it definitely trumps local administrative regulations (issued by provinces and some major cities)," Wang Zhu, an associate professor at Sichuan University's law school, told the Global Times.

Previously, when there was a conflict between local regulations and motor recall provisions, the issue required a ruling by the State Council, Wang said.

"In civil lawsuits, the departmental provisions have no binding effects in the courts, whereas now the courts can refer to the (recall) regulations when appropriate," Wang said.

Furthermore, the new regulations are applicable to all the departments under the State Council, while the previous provisions had a much smaller effective range, he noted.

Meanwhile, the scope of the recalls has also expanded thanks to the upgrade. The previous recall provisions only regulated the recall of whole vehicles, but "according to AQSIQ reports, 30 percent of automobile recalls are caused by defective car accessories," King & Wood Mallesons, a major Beijing-based law firm, wrote in a brief in April.

In June 2011, the AQSIQ issued a risk warning on its website, saying that certain Hankook tires might experience problems of bulging or exploding. But Hankook Tire did not recall its products because no regulations required it to do so.

Now Article 26 of the draft recall regulations mandates that producers recall defective tires.

The new regulations also more clearly define the authoritative scope of the administrative departments in a recall investigation, according to King & Wood Mallesons.

"The draft recall regulations further stipulate that administrative departments are entitled to initiate an investigation upon finding defects," the law firm said.

The AQSIQ's Defective Products Administration Center maintains a website to receive complaints from car owners, and will initiate investigations based on the information received there, Zeng Zhiling, director of LMC Automotive Asia Pacific Forecasting in Shanghai, told the Global Times.

The new rule authorizes them to initiate an investigation, he said.

Facing the music

Coincidentally, Toyota Motor Corp issued three recall announcements on its Chinese website on October 10, involving about 14 million units of imported and domestically made RAV4s, Highlanders, Vios, Corollas, Camrys, Camry HVs and Yaris.

The recalls are all due to faulty power window switches that may pose a fire hazard, and will take effect on November 1, the company said.

It is the largest motor products recall in China to date, and a part of the Japanese automaker's global 7.4 million unit recall of the same products.

"The voluntary move is the biggest single recall since Ford pulled 8 million vehicles off the road in 1996 to replace defective ignition switches that could have caused engine fires," Reuters reported October 11.

The Toyota recall also includes 2.5 million vehicles in the US. "Japanese manufacturers rarely recall products without a fight. It is an image and pride issue, and it has been like this for decades," the Chicago Tribune reported on October 10, quoting Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with IHS Automotive in the US.

"They don't want to admit that they have a systemic defect in their cars because it hurts their reliability image."

In China, both the image and the actual sales of the Japanese cars met with setbacks during the recent anti-Japan protests across the country over the Diaoyu Islands dispute.

Toyota said on October 9 that its China sales dropped by nearly 50 percent year-on-year in September.

The recall by the Japanese company may serve as a public relations bid to repair damage to its image among Chinese consumers.

Sam Ning, 29, owner of an 11-year-old imported Honda Accord sedan in Chengdu, is considering buying a new car. He told the Global Times on Tuesday that he would still trust a brand if it has issued a few recalls.

Ideally, a car should have no major problems, but when it does, "it's much better for the company to admit it and fix it," instead of hiding from it, Ning said.

Enforcement issues

The main reason why an automaker would shy away from a recall is because it is too expensive, Zeng of LMC Automotive said.

In 2010, Toyota suffered losses of at least $2 billion in recall repairs and lost sales following a series of global recalls of more than 8 million vehicles due to defective accelerator pedals, according to the company's estimates.

On the other hand, the technical sophistication of automobiles often prevents administrative bodies from forcing companies to issue a recall, Zeng said.

"Aside from the very obvious (mechanical) defects, there are many hidden problems, such as those in electronic parts and software," that only the automakers can sniff out, Zeng said.

However, the new regulations can better motivate manufacturers to cooperate with the AQSIQ because of the more severe punishment, he noted.