Honda recalling 699,000 cars
TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Honda Motor said it is recalling 699,000 cars spanning five models, including the popular Accord sedan, in the United States and Canada to fix a defective parking safety mechanism.
Japan's No. 2 automaker said Tuesday the recall will cost it a total of 3.5 billion yen, or $31.6 million, which would be within the amount normally set aside for recall purposes, and it will not have a big impact on earnings.
Shares in Honda are trading 2.4 percent lower at 4450 yen in early Wednesday trade. The broader market is down about 1 percent.
The recall applies to certain 1998 and 1999 model year Accord cars, 1999 Odyssey minivans, 2002 CR-V sport/utility vehicles, 1999 Acura TL cars and Acura CL cars from the 1997 to 1999 model years. Of the total, 650,000 are in the United States.
The defect was found in the safety mechanism that allows the key to be removed from the ignition switch only when the shift lever is placed in "park."
Honda found that with enough force and tampering of the key cylinder, the key could be pulled out even when the transmission is not in "park" mode, meaning the car could move if the emergency parking brake was not applied.
There have been three reports of accidents with four minor injuries from the defect, Honda said. Although cars with the same defect have been sold in Japan, Honda said it is not issuing a recall there because there have been no reported cases of similar incidents.
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