/ 17 March 2010

Honda recalls 412 000 US vehicles

Japanese car-maker Honda is recalling 412 000 minivans and sports utility vehicles in the United States because of complaints from drivers that brake pedals feel “soft”, in the latest safety scare to hit the automotive industry.

Honda announced on Tuesday that it intends to make adjustments to 344 000 Odyssey minivans and 68 000 Element vehicles built in 2007 and 2008. The company said motorists had found that as the vehicles age, they had to press the brake pedals closer to the floor in order to reach a halt.

It blamed the problem on air accumulating in a piece of equipment called the vehicle stability assist modulator. It encouraged owners to take their cars to an authorised dealer and said formal notifications to potentially afflicted motorists would begin at the end of April.

Honda said British and European cars are not affected. The recall comes amid an anxious environment in the industry as rival Japanese manufacturer Toyota struggles to overcome problems with sticking accelerator pedals.

Since the end of last year, Toyota has been obliged to recall more than eight million cars in response to safety scares, and its president, Akio Toyoda, was hauled before a congressional committee in Washington last month to offer apologies.

In the latest headline-grabbing incident, a Californian estate agent last week claimed his Toyota Prius had accelerated uncontrollably to about 150km/h on a San Diego highway, although safety regulators have raised questions over discrepancies in his account.

Tuesday’s recall by Honda is on a far smaller scale than Toyota’s difficulties. Honda said several crashes and three minor injuries with a possible link to soft brakes have been reported to the US national highway traffic safety administration. But spokesperson Chris Martin told Agence France-Presse that it was “tough” to link the injuries to the specific problem because it develops so gradually: “It’s a very slow progression because it’s a tiny, tiny amount of air that gets in – it’s smaller than a drop of water.” — guardian.co.uk