Johannesburg - Ford is not the only car company putting out fires. Mercedes-Benz has just announced a global recall that affects around 1 million cars, over a fire risk caused by a starter part.
The recall covers certain C-Class, E-Class and CLA sedans as well as GLA and GLC crossovers, all from 2015 through 2017.
Mercedes-Benz SA said that its technical team is still in the process of determining how many local vehicles are involved, but promised to make all relevant information available in due course.
So far 51 fires have been reported worldwide, with about 30 in the United States. However, no injuries have been reported as yet.
According to Mercedes-Benz SA, the starting current limiter on the aforementioned models could overload under certain conditions during the starting procedure.
"In situations where the vehicle’s engine is damaged and cannot crank (e.g. when the engine has hydrolocked), and the customer repeatedly attempts to start the vehicle, a very high electric current can flow through the starting current limiter, causing it to overheat.
"As our top priority is the safety of our customers, we will install an additional fuse in the electrical line to the starter, as a precautionary measure. This is expected to take approximately one hour to complete and will be performed free of charge," the statement said.
According to AP, Mercedes started investigating the problem in June last year after getting field reports of "thermally damaged" current limiters.