Aston Martin recalls Vantage over gearbox issue

Aston Martin is recalling its 1658 Vantage models across the globe over an issue related to the gearbox. This problem could stall the car at high speeds. 

The British manufacturer revealed that the affected Vantage sports cars have been built between June 2010 and September 2013. The company revealed that the dealers don't reset the clutch position after a software update for the gearbox. This usually happens during the servicing of the car. As a result, the car could stall, which in turn could result in power to the Vantage's assisted steering and hydraulic brakes being cut. While this would make it difficult to stop, it's understood that the fault hasn't resulted in a crash. This gearbox problem was first reported in China in 2014. 

The top honcho, Andy Palmer, blamed the company for this issue. 

"Basically, we should have explicitly said within the service action for the software that we should re-teach the clutch. We didn't explicitly say that. Therefore, we take responsibility for fixing it," he said.

"Normally recalls start in America. I don't think it is the only example, but it's interesting that it started from China and becomes a global recall. It demonstrates the importance of China, the sophistication of the customer and the diligence of the authorities there." he added.