(Yicai Global) July 9 -- The number of vehicles carmakers recalled in China in the first half increased over the same period last year, with Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz leading the pack.

Mercedes-Benz yanked back 788,300 vehicles from among almost all its domestic and imported models, China News Service reported today, citing data from the State Administration for Market Regulation.

Vehicle makers had issued 67 recall notices in the world’s biggest auto market as of June 30, encompassing over 3.2 million cars, in a yearly 16.4 percent increase.

German producers flagged a total of almost 1.4 million, making up 43.1 percent of the first-half score. Japan’s carmakers called back over 1.37 million, or 42.7 percent. Honda Motor brought over 770,000 vehicles back in for repairs on May 29 in the largest single recall of Japanese cars in China this year.

The massive actions by Honda and Mercedes-Benz related to fuel pump problems and involved more than 1.4 million defective autos in all.

This year has also seen burgeoning recalls of new energy vehicles over relatively serious power battery issues, said Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Car Association. Some companies have been quite weak in effectively addressing these problems, he added.

Editor: Ben Armour