BMW dealer did not inform public of recalls, representative tells committee

Serious problems in finding and informing car owners about recalls were reported on Wednesday by the five witnesses who testified before the three-member committee examining the recalls process for cars – faulty Takata airbags in particular – imported from the EU and third countries.

The witnesses, who are members of the car importers’ association (Semio) and are either owners or officers of dealerships distributing vehicles in Cyprus, also referred to the incomplete implementation of EU legislation on the import of used cars, allowing for vehicles under recall to be registered.

They also said it was necessary to update data collected by the road transport department (TOM), so that recalls could be fulfilled immediately.

After the first public hearing, in which a Semio representative testified, pointing a finger at the state and dealers of used cars from third countries for the faulty Takata airbag scandal, the committee called the five witnesses to present their positions.

The first to testify was Loucas Hadjivasiliou, representative of BMW importer Charalambos Pilakoutas Ltd.
The witness said the recall was initially for the coding of the system and not a faulty airbag.

The recall was made in 2008 and all recalls were completed, he said, adding that recalls for BMW airbags were up till 2017.

He added that another airbag recall notification was sent out in 2019, however checks in 2022 did not indicate a problem.

Committee chairman Michalakis Christodoulou said Kyriakos Oxinos was killed in 2022 in a BMW due to a faulty airbag and asked in which category that vehicle had been placed. Hadjivasiliou said it was a yellow warning for an immediate recall.

Other recalled vehicles were also in the immediate immobilisation category, he added.

“We did not inform the public. We did not issue an announcement,” he said, adding, however, that letters to car owners had been sent.

Hadjivasiliou said the vehicle was registered in the name of Kyriakos Oxinos’ grandmother and had not been taken to the dealer’s garage since 2011, so the details had not been updated.

He added that a letter had been sent for the recall to the Oxinos family and no one contacted the company from 2011 till 2023.

“We phoned twice, and no one picked up,” he said.

The witness explained to the committee that there had been recalls for various issues, not just the airbags, and that the road transport department (TOM) had been informed of all recalls after the 2017 circular.

Regarding the accident in 2017, in which a person was seriously injured, the witness said there had been no information about the specific vehicle’s recall and BMW had been sued.

The recall notification, he added, came later.

Out of the 14,000 BMWs affected, recalls for 8,000 were completed, however the public does not always respond to the notices, Hadjivasiliou said.

“We kept sending letters and the people did not pick them up,” he added.

Pilakoutas also imports other car brands, including Nissan. Hadjivasiliou said when Nissan cars are imported second-hand, it is difficult to bring spare parts from Japan, since the European specifications are different.

Next to testify was Loutsios Group CEO Yiannis Loutsios, whose company imports KIA and Isuzu.
He said the cars they import were not fitted with Takata airbags and that other recalls were being completed on time.

Regarding the TOM circular in 2017, Loutsios said TOM was informed of all recalls.

He added that although the recalls were separated into categories of seriousness, the company considered them all to be dangerous.

“We sent a lot of letters. Many were not picked up because the people thought they were fines,” Loutsios said.

Christodoulou said he had never heard anything about recalls in the 30 years he had been a judge, to which Loutsios said the dealerships knew.

“You knew, the people didn’t,” Christodoulou replied.

The third witness was CTC Automotive technical director Savvas Koumis, from whom the committee requested a list of all recalls made by the company, which represents Hyundai and Volvo.

Replying to questions, Koumis said problems arose regarding the so-called ‘grey cars’, those imported second-hand.

“While we try to find the customers, we don’t have the history. I must say that most of those cars are not safe,” he added.

Koumis said some owners “refused to come to complete the recall”.

CIC Automasters CEO Alexis Anninos – who had been president of Semio for four years – said the manufacturers gave the distributors 18 months to complete the recalls.

The company imports Mercedes, Jeep, Citroen, Fiat and Alpha Romeo among others.

Regarding cars imported second-hand, Anninos said some importers did not check the cars and that there was no access to data.

He said the first recall for Mercedes Benz was made in September 2019 and the first general notice was sent in March 2017 by Jeep.

Anninos said he did not know when Takata airbags stopped being used, since the company closed in 2018.

Anninos explained that until January 2025 when the law was voted in, there were no checks.

“There are cars that were registered in 2023, 2024 and even 2025 for which a recall is pending since 2021,” he added.

Anninos said “we made the first recall in Cyprus, in 1993.”

The last witness to testify was Spyros Pavlides on behalf of Geo. Pavlides Automotive.

Pavlides said the first notice was for Subaru vehicles in 2017 and TOM was informed, followed by a recall for Mazda vehicles too. He also said the company may have been the first to make a recall in Cyprus, in 1993.

Pavlides explained that the problem was with the grey cars, for which the manufacturer had to be informed and it was “terribly time-consuming”. He added that there had been two cases in which the airbag did not open, however “it was nothing serious”.

“The information we had was that it probably affected Mediterranean countries, due to the temperatures,” the witness said.

Pavlides suggested preventative measures, including supporting TOM.
The committee chairman urged the families of victims or people injured to testify, saying he did not wish to summon them out of respect for their loss.

The next meeting will be held on April 17 at 9.30am.