Nissan to recall 841,000 cars over steering glitch

TOKYO: Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. will recall about 841,000 vehicles worldwide including the Micra compact car, also known as the March, as a result of a steering wheel glitch, Japan’s No.2 automaker said.
Nissan is recalling certain models of the Micra compact car produced in Britain and Japan between 2002 and 2006, as well as the Cube, produced in Japan around the same period.
It is pulling back vehicles in Japan, Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.
The bolt used in the steering wheel of these cars may not have been properly tightened and at worst the steering wheel may not function, Nissan said in a statement filed to the Japanese transport ministry.
Nissan will fix the glitch by either tightening the bolts or replacing the steering wheel with a new one.
The repair will take about 40 minutes, Yoneyama said.
She declined to say how much the recall will cost Nissan.
Nissan sold the cars — 763,000 units of Micra and 78,000 of Cube — in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, but has not received any accident reports related to the glitch, the spokeswoman added.
“We will fix the problem free of charge in accordance with regulations in each country,” said the spokeswoman.
The latest recall is another blow to the rock-steady reputation for safety and reliability that Japan’s huge automakers once had.
Four auto giants including Nissan recently said they were recalling nearly 3.4 million vehicles worldwide, in a blow for the country’s carmakers which once traded on a reputation for quality and reliability.
Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda, all cited the same malfunction of the Japanese-made passenger-side airbags.
In January, Toyota said it would recall nearly 1.3 million vehicles globally over airbag and windscreen wiper problems.
At the end of last year Toyota said it had agreed to pay about $ 1.1 billion to settle a class action lawsuit launched by US vehicle owners affected by a series of mass recalls.
Despite its travails, Toyota recaptured the title of world’s biggest automaker from General Motors in 2012, selling 9.75 million vehicles around the planet.
Nissan’s recall report came after the Tokyo stock market closed with the benchmark Nikkei index down 7.32 percent.
Nissan shares fell 3.86 percent to 1,168 yen.