Honda Motor Co is recalling the popular Accord and Civic passenger cars to address problems with an ignition switch that could allow the key to be removed without the transmission being shifted into park, its third recall over the problem since 2003.
Honda said the most recent recall involved 384,220 vehicles and includes 2003 model year Accord and Civics and 2003 to 2004 versions of the Honda Element. Honda told the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the defect with the automatic transmissions could lead to a vehicle rolling away and increase the risk of a crash.
The Japanese automaker said in a statement the recall would involve about 197,000 Accords, 117,000 Civics and 69,000 Elements. The recall is expected to begin late next month.
The company said it has received several complaints about the ignition interlock and “is aware of a small number of related incidents, including one that resulted in a minor injury.”
Honda said the ignition interlock mechanism could be damaged or worn during use and “it may become possible to remove the ignition key when the shift lever is not in park.”
Unless the parking brake is set, the vehicle could roll away under those circumstances and lead to a crash.
The three related recalls have involved about 1.4 million vehicles since 2003. Honda recalled more than 560,000 minivans and sedans, including the 1998 to 1999 Accord, to correct the ignition park-shift interlock defect in October 2003. In January 2005, Honda recalled nearly 490,000 passenger cars, including certain 1999 to 2002 Accords, because of the ignition switch problem.
Meanwhile, Toyota has cut 600 workers at its Japanese factories, the company said yesterday, as it prepares for a drop in local sales when incentives for green cars run out next month.
Toyota Motor Corp employed a total of 2,400 contract workers at the end of last year, it said.
Contract workers are hired under different terms from other employees at Toyota, mainly to make it easier to increase or cut the numbers of workers in response to fluctuating demand for cars. The world’s biggest automaker employs 320,000 people globally and 70,000 of those workers are in Japan.
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