Vantage Coupe

Segment
Coupe

Last summer Aston Martin recalled nearly 700 cars due to an issue regarding the throttle arms, which could potentially break. It was embarrassing, to say the least, for the premium UK-based sports carmaker. But embarrassing hardly even begins to describe what's happened now. With the sole exception of the Vanquish, AM has issued yet another recall for all left-hand drive cars built since late 2007 and right-hand drive cars built since May 2012.

The problem? It's been discovered that a Chinese sub-supplier was – get this – using a counterfeit plastic material for the accelerator pedal arm. No accidents or injuries among affected owners have happened yet, but AM is rightly worried the pedal may break, thus increasing the risk of a crash. All told, some 17,500 vehicles are involved in this recall. Not only is this bad for Aston Martin, but also for the Chinese auto industry in general, which is anxious to expand in both Europe and North America.