Mitsubishi 'to inspect' its popular Colt L300 model

Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi has announced an inspection campaign for its light commercial model Colt L300 due to a minor problem with its power-steering gearbox.

"Most users feel steering is slightly harder than it should be, despite the vehicle being equipped with power steering," Rizwan Alamsjah, marketing director of PT Krama Yudha Tiga Berlian Motors (KTB), said Thursday.

"We have not received complaints from our users concerning this problem. But we are following advice from our principal."

KTB, which distributes Mitsubishi passenger and commercial vehicles in Indonesia, issued a statement Friday, saying that in very rare cases, small residue might remain in the oil path of the power-steering gearbox, which could occasionally impact on the power steering.

Rizwan said L300 users may not realize there was a problem with their vehicles.

"As most L300s are used in business, the users may find the inspection obstructs their operations," he said.

"Therefore, we are providing free lubricants to customers who have their L300s inspected."

Rizwan also said that the inspection would only take an hour of maintenance.

The glitch has affected about 17,000 units of L300 produced from July 2008 to October 2009. About 550,000 units of L300 have been sold in Indonesia since its introduction in 1971.

Rizwan said the defect was found during a routine inspection at the assembly line around March 2009.

"We contacted one of our principals, the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation *MMC*, to discuss the problem," he said.

"It was decided around September that it was a problem."

The MMC manufactures passenger and light commercial vehicles while Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus manufacturer larger trucks and buses.

Rizwan insisted the move was only an inspection, saying: "We are not recalling the vehicles, we are simply inspecting them."

Recall has become a sensitive word lately for automakers following a global recall carried out by Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) totaling some 8.5 million cars.

Honda Motor Co. and French PSA Peugeot Citroen also had to recall their cars recently.

In Indonesia, PT Honda Prospect Motor (HPM), the sole distributor of Honda here, announced on Feb. 2 a recall of 3,240 units of its City model over a potentially faulty power window switch that could lead to driving hazards.

HPM said the recall in Indonesia applied to all City units sold between the start of 2007 and the end of November 2008.

Meanwhile, PT Toyota Astra-Motor said on Feb. 2 that Toyota vehicles in Asia and Oceania were not affected.

First published on The Jakarta Post on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010