Massive aston martin recall for "counterfeit plastic" parts.

[westopher]

I guess plastic parts are too pricey for a measly 140k car, although its not really astons fault I suppose.

DETROIT (Reuters) -- Aston Martin is recalling most of its sports cars built since late 2007 after discovering a Chinese sub-supplier was using counterfeit plastic material in a part supplied to the luxury sports carmaker.

Aston Martin, which is owned by Kuwaiti and private equity investors, is recalling 17,590 cars, including all of its left-hand-drive models built since November 2007 and all right-hand-drive models built since May 2012, affecting about 75 percent of all vehicles built in that period, a spokeswoman said.

The Vanquish is not affected.

Aston Martin found that Shenzhen Kexiang Mould Tool Co. Ltd., a Chinese subcontractor that molds the affected accelerator pedal arms, was using counterfeit plastic material supplied by Synthetic Plastic Raw Material Co. Ltd. of Dongguan, according to documents filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The cars are being recalled from model years 2008 through 2014 because the accelerator pedal arm may break, increasing the risk of a crash, according to the NHTSA documents. The engine would return to idle and the driver would be unable to maintain or increase speed, according to the documents.

22 failed parts

Aston Martin spokeswoman Sarah Calam said there had been no reports of accidents or injuries related to the issue and 22 failed parts had been reported. She said the financial impact to the automaker was small, but did not quantify the total.

The cost of the recall is of great interest because Aston Martin has struggled to fund the development of a range of new vehicles while rivals like Bentley, owned by Volkswagen, and Rolls Royce, owned by BMW, have the ability to draw on the resources of their parent firms.

Aston Martin's owners include Italian private equity fund Investindustrial, Kuwait-based Adeem Investment and Prime Wagon. Germany's Daimler AG also has stake of less than 5 percent in the British automaker.

Of the Aston Martin cars affected in the recall, 7,271 are in Europe and 5,001 in the United States, Calam said. The company sells cars in 41 countries.

The latest recall replaces one announced last May and expanded in October.

Because of the issue, Aston Martin is now being supplied directly by a DuPont distributor.

Both Aston Martin and chemical company DuPont Co. sent people to China to directly supervise the production of all pedal arms, including verifying each bag of DuPont plastic material, Calam said.

Piracy problem

The automaker plans to shift production of the pedal arms from China to the United Kingdom "as soon as possible" in 2014, she said.

Last May, Aston Martin initially recalled 2,832 cars globally to replace the accelerator pedal arm after finding the affected part included material that did not meet specifications, Calam said.

After another arm broke that was not part of that group, the company expanded the recall to 16,825 cars and required the use of material made by DuPont.

When one of the replacement parts broke in December during installation by a U.S. dealer in Connecticut, however, Aston Martin froze the recall and found the counterfeit plastic material was being used in place of the DuPont material, she said.

The recall includes all the cars previously repaired, Calam said. Under the recall, Aston Martin will replace the accelerator pedal assemblies.

The manufacturer of the throttle pedal assembly that included the counterfeit material is Precision Varionic International Limited, according to the NHTSA documents.

The company's quality director, John Penman, did not immediately return calls and messages seeking comment.

It is not the first time DuPont has dealt with piracy in relation to China.

U.S. prosecutors indicted a California businessman in 2011 with stealing DuPont trade secrets in order to sell them to a Chinese company. That trial is ongoing.

http://www.autonews.com/article/2014...228C2603801E7U

[BBMme]

You think they would get their parts from europe.

[z3german]

I can imagine them dealing with Dupont, then suddenly chinese company shows them they can do it the same but cheaper.

That greed factor.

Then again im just speculating

[Speed2K]

Interesting, I would've assumed the accelerator arms were made of steel or an alloy, not plastic.

[hud 91gt]

Plastic is light, strong and last's an extremely long time. I can see it. Although i'd expect carbon finer for those prices just because. Ha

[white rocket]

Originally Posted by z3german

I can imagine them dealing with Dupont, then suddenly chinese company shows them they can do it the same but cheaper.

That greed factor.

mutha fcukin this! someone somewhere was shown a cheaper way and dat greed kicked it. where/who that "kink" in the armor is will hopefully be held responsible for the actions that caused this outcome. it's sad that capitalism is the martyr for this behavior.

/*endrant

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by z3german

I can imagine them dealing with Dupont, then suddenly chinese company shows them they can do it the same but cheaper.

That greed factor.

Then again im just speculating

Dupont does not make parts they make the plastic. My guess is the manufacture in China was using Dupont plastic then witched to a cheaper plastic without telling Aston Martin.

[ShadowBun]

someone is in troubbble

[Akinari]

How embarrassing

[Qmx323]

I wonder if this had anything to do with that Aston crash on Westminster Highway about 6 months ago...

[boostfever]

Originally Posted by Qmx323

I wonder if this had anything to do with that Aston crash on Westminster Highway about 6 months ago...

Nope. Westminster Hwy being located in Richmond had to do something with it...

[CharlieH]

LOL fucking sneaky chinks man

[123654123]

Originally Posted by Qmx323

I wonder if this had anything to do with that Aston crash on Westminster Highway about 6 months ago...

Originally Posted by boostfever

Nope. Westminster Hwy being located in Richmond had to do something with it...

The cars are being recalled from model years 2008 through 2014 because the accelerator pedal arm may break, increasing the risk of a crash, according to the NHTSA documents. The engine would return to idle and the driver would be unable to maintain or increase speed, according to the documents.

and if the gas pedal was stuck, why not turn off the engine and brake? then again herp a derp

[slingblade]

Originally Posted by CharlieH

LOL fucking sneaky chinks man

[Qmx323]

Originally Posted by 123654123

The cars are being recalled from model years 2008 through 2014 because the accelerator pedal arm may break, increasing the risk of a crash, according to the NHTSA documents. The engine would return to idle and the driver would be unable to maintain or increase speed, according to the documents.

and if the gas pedal was stuck, why not turn off the engine and brake? then again herp a derp

The average motorist has no idea how a car even works, let alone how to react in a situation like that.

[Timpo]

ok so how many cars out there have Made in China plastic pedals?

[CharlieH]

Originally Posted by slingblade

what?! i'm from the motherland. i know full well the kinda shit us chinamen do to make a quick buck lol

[slingblade]

Originally Posted by CharlieH

what?! i'm from the motherland. i know full well the kinda shit us chinamen do to make a quick buck lol

Just evaluate the premise of that argument... You are from China, therefore it is excusable to slander a billion people living lives separate of your own...

Are you one of those guys that call people faggots, just to tell them to not be so sensitive afterwards?

[CharlieH]

Originally Posted by slingblade

Just evaluate the premise of that argument... You are from China, therefore it is excusable to slander a billion people living lives separate of your own...

Are you one of those guys that call people faggots, just to tell them to not be so sensitive afterwards?

Calm down there, white knight. Stereotypes exist for a reason, and I'm simply poking fun at the fact that Chinese people love to counterfeit everything we can get our hands on. I'm not going to censor myself for the sake of being politically correct. What's the fun in that?

[123654123]

Originally Posted by CharlieH

Calm down there, white knight. Stereotypes exist for a reason, and I'm simply poking fun at the fact that Chinese people love to counterfeit everything we can get our hands on. I'm not going to censor myself for the sake of being politically correct. What's the fun in that?

reminds me of that top gear episode on chinese cars haha

[z3german]

ChalieH LOL

[jasonturbo]

Originally Posted by CharlieH

LOL fucking sneaky chinks man

Talk about unjustified fails. (Though he probably could have been more selective with his words)

I've worked for various companies that import billions and billions of dollars in materials for pipeline and petrochemical plants. My position requires me to be very familiar with documents common in many industries known as "AML" or "Approved MFG List". This document contains all the manufacturers, their specific plant locations, and what products they are approved to supply. It's extremely specific, for pipe it would list approved type/grade/diameter/wall thickness etc.

Now what's interesting is this, all the major pipeline companies have banned Chinese pipe. Too many instances of failures on hydrotest, too many material test reports with missing information, incorrect information, or that can clearly be traced back to measurements taken years before that batch was made etc.

We've had third party labs test materials sourced from China on various occasions and virtually every single time we have observed material properties that do not meet the applicable material standard, and also do not reflect the results obtained in China when they "did their testing...".

That's not to say all of China's MFG sector is crooked and will do anything to make an extra buck, but it's IMO very common to take shortcuts.

We simply issue a memo now which basically states if you see any material test reports that have a Chinese address, quarantine the materials and return them.

I have personally seen Chinese material fail under hydrotest, and on that occasion, we were only about 60% of the SMYS. (Explained in simple terms: we tested to 6000Kpa of pressure and the pipe failed, pipe that "should" be good for 10000Kpa based on the material type/grade specified.)

So why do people buy Chinese pipe? Because it's cheaper, and the distributors here also want to make some extra money :s

[Jmac]

Originally Posted by 123654123

The cars are being recalled from model years 2008 through 2014 because the accelerator pedal arm may break, increasing the risk of a crash, according to the NHTSA documents. The engine would return to idle and the driver would be unable to maintain or increase speed, according to the documents.

and if the gas pedal was stuck, why not turn off the engine and brake? then again herp a derp

When you turn off the engine, the steering wheel locks (in every car I've driven at least). You would want to put it in neutral until you bring the vehicle to a stop, then shut the engine off.

[busdriverman]

Originally Posted by hud 91gt

Plastic is light, strong and last's an extremely long time. I can see it. Although i'd expect carbon finer for those prices just because. Ha

carbon fiber is a plastic

[BoostedBB6]

Plastic pedals in an Aston.......Toyota I can understand but an Aston.....come one now that just plain stupid.

Aluminum or carbon.