SHANGHAI-- Tata Motors Ltd.'s Jaguar Land Rover on Thursday said it would recall more than 36,000 cars sold in China, after a government-controlled television broadcast alleged some of its models have faulty gearboxes.

Jaguar Land Rover said the Range Rover Evoque sport-utility vehicles could have some problems, including malfunctioning or noisy gear shifts, in a statement late Thursday. The company said it would upgrade gearbox software to improve performance of the nine-speed automatic transmission.

The recall was announced after China Central Television on Sunday--a day dedicated to consumer rights in China--alleged that Land Rover had failed to address the Evoque SUVs' gearbox problem. A few hours after the news broadcast, the car maker apologized and acknowledged knowing about the problem. Land Rover said would continue to offer free gearbox software updates to customers, which it started doing in January.

The public lashing recalled a similar CCTV consumer-rights broadcast in 2013, during which the state broadcaster alleged problems with the transmissions in some of Volkswagen's most popular models. The company recalled more than 380,000 vehicles in China following the airing of that show.

Sunday's broadcast also accused dealers for Volkswagen AG, Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz and Nissan Motor Co. of overcharging consumers at some of their service centers in China. CCTV said that in some cases the foreign car makers were charging more than double what they should for car repair and billing customers for unnecessary services. Each of the car makers said it is launching an investigation into CCTV's allegations.

China has propelled growth for auto makers in the recent decade, led by foreign-car companies. Government data show that local-brand passenger vehicles accounted for 38% of China's domestic market in 2014, down from 46% in 2010. For sedans, local brands' share fell to 22% from 31%.

In 2014, Jaguar Land Rover, a British brand, sold more than 122,000 cars in China, up 28% from a year earlier. In a bid to rev up its sales in the world's largest car market, JLR and Chinese joint-venture partner Chery Automobile Co. last year launched a China car plant, where they are producing Evoque SUVs.

Although foreign car brands have been repeatedly targeted by Chinese state media over quality issues, surveys among Chinese consumers show they are considered to be higher quality than Chinese brands.

A quality survey from J.D. Power & Associates last year showed that Chinese brands had 131 problems per 100 vehicles, while foreign brands had 95 problems per 100 cars.

--Rose Yu

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