17,590 cars, 7,271 in Europe and 5,001 in the United States, are being recalled by Aston Martin due to "counterfeit material". A Chinese sub-supplier was using counterfeit plastic material in a part supplied to the British luxury carmaker, and this could have far reaching consequences. It affects around 75 percent of all vehicles built between late 2007 and 2012 - but the Vanquish model is not affected at all.
The cars are being recalled from model years 2008 through 2014 because the accelerator pedal arm may break, increasing the risk of a crash. Aston Martin spokeswoman Sarah Calam said to Reuters there had been no reports of accidents or injuries related to the issue and 22 failed parts had been reported.
Aston Martin found that Shenzhen Kexiang Mould Tool Co Limited, a Chinese subcontractor that moulds the affected accelerator pedal arms, was using counterfeit DuPont plastic material, according to documents filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The material was supplied by Synthetic Plastic Raw Material Co Ltd of Dongguan, according to the documents.
Because of the issue, Aston Martin is now being supplied directly by a DuPont distributor.
Both Aston Martin and chemical company Dupont sent people to China to directly supervise the production of all pedal arms, including verifying each bag of DuPont plastic material.
Repeat, there's been no accidents, but 75% of the cars made are being recalled. That's handling a luxury brand right. Points to DuPont as well, for sending a man to the Aston Martin factory to oversee the making of the parts.
Meanwhile, if you can't afford the real deal, there's always a small remote control model you can play with.