Honda recalls 646,000 Jazz, City cars globally

Automobile giant Honda on Friday said it was recalling 646,000 Fit/Jazz and City automobiles worldwide to defect that could cause fire. The announcement dealt a fresh blow to Japanese automakers' reputation for quality as rival Toyota expanded its own massive recall due to a faulty accelerator pedal to 1.8 million vehicles, covering eight different models, from European markets.

Even as Toyota faced a US Congressional probe, Honda said it would recall 619,000 Jazz cars — also known as Fit in some countries — built in Japan, China, Brazil, Thailand and Malaysia, apart from India. It is also recalling 27,000 City cars in Asia.

A Honda spokesperson in India said the Jazz hatchback that is sold here would not be affected since it is "a next-generation model. The car being recalled was a previous generation model, which was not being sold in India". On the City, she said, "We do not have any information on the model as yet."

But what exactly is the problem? "Under some severe operating conditions, water, rain, or other liquid may enter the driver's window and reach the master power window switch resulting in impaired function of the switch," Honda UK said in a statement.

"If the master power window switch is damaged as a result of the liquid intrusion, it may result in failure of the switch and overheating. An overheating switch may cause smoke, melting or, potentially, fire." There were three reported cases of fires due to the defect, two in the US and one in South Africa, Honda said

By TOI