Mahindra recalls XUV500 to upgrade airbag software

Mahindra & Mahindra is recalling an unspecified number of its premium sports utility vehicle XUV500 vehicles manufactured on or before July 2014 to upgrade the side curtain airbag software.

Announcing the recall, the company said it will upgrade 'the side curtain airbag software on all the XUV500 vehicles manufactured on or before July 2014'. It did not disclose the total number of units affected by the recall.

'The upgrade will be carried out free of cost for customers who will be individually contacted by the company.

This upgrade will be limited only to a software change and no parts will be replaced,' M&M said in a statement.

Mahindra had launched XUV500 in the country in September 2011 and crossed the one lakh milestone in July last year. However, the recall is unlikely to affect all of those units as airbags are available only in select variants.

In November last year, Mahindra recalled 2,300 units of different variants of its popular SUVs Scorpio and XUV500, and multi-purpose vehicle Xylo to rectify a defective vacuum pump in engines manufactured in May last.

It had also recalled around 23,000 units of select variants of its popular sports utility vehicle Scorpio in July last year to rectify faulty pressure regulating valves.

In January this year, French auto major Renault had recalled 646 units of hatchback Pulse and mid—sized sedan Scala in India, manufactured between September 2011—July 2012, to fix faulty driver side air bags.

Last year various manufacturers, including Ford, Nissan, and Maruti Suzuki had called back vehicles to rectify faulty parts.

Ever since the auto industry body SIAM started voluntary vehicle recalls for safety related issues in India in July 2012, over seven lakh vehicles have been recalled by various manufacturers.