Japan auto giant to recall 270,000 vehicles

TOKYO - Honda Motor will recall about 270,000 of its vehicles, mostly sold in Japan, due to defects in electric circuits and engine-linked parts.

A customer inspects Honda Motor's Odyssey minivan at the company's Tokyo headquaters in January 2006. Honda will recall about 270,000 of its vehicles, mostly sold in Japan, due to defects in electric circuits and engine-linked parts. [AFP]

Honda wil recall Odyssey minivans and Life small cars after receiving reports of two Odysseys catching fire and 104 cases in which Life engines shut down suddenly, a transportation ministry official said.

"In the cases with Odyssey, electric circuits for the windshield wipers have problems that they may catch fire when it's freezing due to the cold," said the official.

The Life models had generator problems, which can lead to the battery running down and suddenly shutting down the engine, he said.

Honda will recall 117,500 Odyssey vehicles, of which 85,000 are in Japan and the rest in China, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand, a company spokesman said.

The Life small car is only sold in Japan. The company will recall 153,000 of them, he said.

Japanese companies have faced a growing number of damaging recalls in recent weeks, including a battery defect crisis at electronics giant Sony.

Separately, Mazda Motor Corp said it will recall 12,235 cars sold in Japan due to defects in airbags that might suddenly open up, a company spokeswoman said.