The Great Recall: Japanese Automaker Offers Brand-New Cars to Affected Customers in Vietnam

Yamaha Vietnam’s Compensation Plan

Yamaha Vietnam has recently offered a compensation plan for customers affected by an issue at their assembly plant.

Specifically, in early March 2025, Yamaha Vietnam announced a technical inspection program for 159,320 motorcycles due to signs of improper engine number handling during the assembly process.

This follows the discovery that some motorcycles produced between October 2021 and November 2024 had engine numbers that were tampered with, erased, and re-stamped.

According to Yamaha, the issue stemmed from some workers at the plant who, instead of discarding substandard engine casings as required, blurred and re-stamped new engine numbers.

This resulted in customers receiving motorcycles with traces of tampering and alterations to the engine numbers, which could cause issues with vehicle registration and inspection as per current Vietnamese law.

In response, Yamaha Vietnam proactively initiated a large-scale inspection program for potentially affected models, including Exciter, Jupiter, Sirius, NVX, Grande, Janus, FreeGo, Latte, Lexi, and PG-1.

Yamaha Vietnam has proposed two support options for affected customers after their vehicles have been confirmed through inspection:

– New Vehicle Exchange: Customers can opt for a new vehicle of the same model. If the new vehicle is more expensive, customers will pay the difference. If it is less expensive, Yamaha will refund the difference to the customer.

– Full Refund: Yamaha will repurchase the vehicle at the current listed price of a new vehicle. Additionally, the company will cover costs such as registration fees, license plate fees, compulsory civil liability insurance, and provide an additional 1.8 million VND for deregistration procedures.

The inspection, evaluation, and determination of the resolution will be completed within 14 working days from the date the customer brings the vehicle to Yamaha’s authorized dealer for inspection.

Strict Prohibition on Altering Vehicle Frame and Engine Numbers

In Vietnam, the vehicle frame and engine numbers are crucial identifiers for motor vehicles. These two sets of numbers are recorded on the vehicle registration documents and can be used to trace a vehicle’s history, verify ownership, and serve as the legal basis for registration, transfer of ownership, or inspection procedures.

According to regulations, if the frame or engine number is tampered with, erased, or no longer clearly legible, the vehicle may be denied registration or inspection, unless validated by the competent authority.

As per current legal documents such as Circular No. 79/2024/TT-BCA, changing or re-stamping frame/engine numbers is only permitted with the approval of the vehicle registration agency. In specific cases, such as engine replacement due to damage or technical upgrades, vehicle owners can re-register after inspection and confirmation by the competent authority.

In countries like the USA, Germany, and Australia, engine or frame replacements are accepted provided they are declared to the relevant authorities, undergo technical inspections, and the vehicle records are updated accordingly.

However, manually altering or erasing frame or engine numbers without following official management procedures remains illegal under most international legal systems.