Nearly 3,000 BMW cars will be recalled in China due to defects in their steering systems, the country's consumer quality watchdog said Wednesday.
A total of 2,712 3 Series-model vehicles and 114 X1-model vehicles manufactured in China, as well as 49 imported 3 Series vehicles and 32 imported Z4-model vehicles, will be recalled starting from Aug. 15, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement.
The vehicles will be recalled by BMW (China) Automotive Trading Ltd. and BMW Brilliance Automotive, a joint venture by the BMW Group and Chinese automaker Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd., the statement said.
The companies will offer free replacements for the problematic components, the statement said.
BMW Brilliance now operates a plant in the northeastern city of Shenyang with the capacity to make about 100,000 vehicles annually.
Riding the tide of booming luxury car demand in China, BMW reported sales of more than 232,000 vehicles on the mainland last year, a surge of 37.6 percent over 2010.
BMW last year sold more than 300,000 vehicles in the US and some 297,000 in its home market.