BMW has recalled more than 140,000 vehicles in China, less than a week after an expansion plan was criticised by the country’s environment ministry.
The German carmaker’s China joint venture, BMW Brilliance, said the recall was voluntary and stemmed from a fault affecting the steering systems of 5-Series cars manufactured over the past four years.
“As soon as we found the defect, we reported it to the government,” said BMW Brilliance, which operates a factory in the northeastern industrial centre of Shenyang. Last week, the environment ministry refused to sign off the factory’s plans to double annual production capacity to 400,000 vehicles while also expanding an engine plant.