Nissan, Suzuki, Daihatsu join Toyota in recall crisis
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Three Japanese automakers announced recalls on Thursday and submitted reports to that effect to the government.
In a report to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Suzuki Motor Corp., Japan's No. 4 carmaker, said it will recall a total of 432,366 vehicles in the Every and Scrum minicar models in Japan, for free repairs of defective blower and fan motor sections, after two reported incidents of fire last year.
The vehicles subject to the recall were manufactured between August 2005 and October 2009, Suzuki officials said. The Scrum family of vehicles, are sold by Mazda Motor Corp.
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Japan's No. 3 carmaker, said it would recall 76,415 cars across 10 models in Japan and 2,281 cars overseas due to a possible defect that may cause engine failure.
Nissan's recall models include the hugely popular city car, the Cube, and other models produced by the automaker between October 2007 and May 2008.
According to Nissan representatives all 10 models are eligible for free replacements of deformed electric wiring terminals that could stop the engines while the car is moving.
Nissan, 44 percent owned by French carmaker Renault SA, said it found a connecting terminal between circuit cords in the engine had, in some cases, been damaged in the testing process before the cars were sold.
The damaged component could cause the engine to fail during driving, spokesman Toshitake Inoshita said.
There have been no reported accidents and the number of cars affected overseas is small as all the engines involved were produced at plants in Japan, Inoshita said.
Separately, Daihatsu Motor Co Ltd. said it would recall 60,774 units of four minicar models in Japan due to wiring problems that could trigger airbags to inflate accidentally. Minivehicles, with an engine size of 660cc, are only sold in Japan.
The four models are the Atrai, Atrai Wagon, Hijet and Hijet Deck Van and the recall targets vehicles manufactured between December 1998 and April 2000, Daihatsu said.
The recalls by the three automakers come in the wake of Toyota Motor Corp. chief Akio Toyoda apologizing to consumers and pledging safety reforms to lawmakers at U.S. congressional hearings on Wednesday, following the firm's recall of more than 8 million vehicles worldwide, including its top-selling Prius hybrid model.
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