BEIJING (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co. Ltd (T:7267) will recall 69,090 UR-V sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in China, market regulators said on Thursday, a result of a cold-climate engine problem that has already forced the recall of hundreds of thousands of vehicles.
The UR-V is produced and sold in China, the world's biggest auto market, by Honda's joint venture with the Dongfeng Motor Group (HK:0489).
As many as 18,907 vehicle recalls are linked to problems caused by an unusual amount of uncombusted petrol collecting in the engine's lubricant oil pan, the Defective Product Administration Center of State Administration of Market Regulation said on Thursday.
The issue in some cases caused a strong odour of gasoline inside the car and in other cases the car's check-engine light came on, Honda has said.
The Japanese automaker says the problem does not affect the engine's performance and there have been no reports of accidents because of this particular issue.
Honda recalled 96,900 SUV Avancier vehicles on Monday. The cold-climate engine issue also prompted the Tokyo-headquartered automaker to recall 130,000 of its popular CR-V SUV models and 294,500 Civic cars from China earlier this year.
Honda's China spokesman Zhu Linjie declined to comment on Thursday but he said on Monday the company was now studying to see if the same issue was affecting the Honda Jade car and the UR-V crossover SUV.