New Delhi, Feb. 23: Maruti Suzuki India is recalling 1 lakh units of its flagship export model A-Star to replace a fuel pump part, making it the largest such exercise in the country so far.

The company is replacing a faulty rubber gasket in the small car manufactured before August 22, 2009, and sold in domestic as well as overseas markets to prevent any possible fuel leak. Maruti share prices plunged 3 per cent on the stock market, the concerns heightened by the recall troubles that hit Toyota and Honda.

Toyota has recalled over 8.5 million vehicles in recent months for problems that included sticky accelerators. Last month, Japanese auto major Honda recalled 8,532 units of its sedan, the City, in India because of a defective power window switch as part of a global recall.

In the A-Star, the problem arises when fuel is filled to the brim — beyond the cut-off position. A fuel leak from the pump mounting area may take place then.

Replacing the gasket and the “ ring” means the rubber part is defective, leading to a leak or its likelihood. The company is midway through the checking process and hopes to complete it soon.

Maruti is identifying cars that face the possibility of the problem and contacting individual customers. A-Star, priced between Rs 3.46 lakh and Rs 4.12 lakh in Calcutta, sells around 3,500 units a month in India. “In November 2009, we came across an anomaly reported in the fuel tank in some of the vehicles and, by December, we started contacting the customers through letters. These vehicles belonged to a lot made till August 22, 2009, only,” the company said in a statement today.

“The customers are being asked to visit their nearest dealer workshop where the faulty parts will be replaced in about 15-20 minutes,” an official said. Maruti will change the fuel pump gasket and the “ ring” at no cost to customers, he added. “The final cost for this replacement will be shared with the supplier partner after completion of the entire exercise,” he said.

The problem was discovered in an internal survey and no complaint has been received so far, company officials said.

The company started replacing the gasket from December 2009 and has so far changed the part in around 50,000 units.

In 2001, Maruti recalled nearly 76,000 Omnis made between August and December 2000 to get the fuel hose system inspected and, if found defective, have it rectified. In 2006, the company recalled 500 units of Zen. The company had also recalled some units of its hatchback Swift in 2005.

“Its just not good to have recall one after the other… but one must not forget that the company is owning up to the problem. It is an exercise to build good public relations,” said auto analyst Hormazd Sorabji. “In the long run, such small things will not impact the image of the company.”

The A-Star, the fifth “global” model from the Maruti stable, was launched in November 2008 and crossed 1 lakh overseas shipments in less than a year.

The car is exported to around 70 countries and is sold as Suzuki Alto in Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Some of the other markets abroad are Chile, Angola, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria and UAE, where it is sold as Suzuki Celerio.