Honda Shares Hit by Recall

The recently announced recall of Honda Odyssey and Element models in the US has already taken its toll on the company shares, as they managed to close up 0.2 percent after trading down, behind the 1.2 percent rise in the benchmark Nikkei 225 Average, Market Watch reported.

As announced earlier today, Honda is recalling 344,000 Odyssey and 68,000 Element vehicles manufactured between 2007 – 2008, to modify the Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) modulator.

According to the recall notification, some of the VSA modulators "were assembled in a manner that could allow air intrusion, making it possible for air to enter the modulator during the VSA self-check mode."

“While only a miniscule amount of air can enter the system during each check, over a period of months or years, the air will accumulate and can result in the "soft brake pedal" or "low brake pedal" condition symptoms associated with this issue. Although not all vehicles being recalled are affected by this issue, we are recalling all possible units to assure all customers that their vehicles will perform correctly,” Honda says.

This new recall comes weeks after the Japanese carmaker recalled an additional 378,758 Accord, Civic, Odyssey, CR-V, and selected 2002 Acura TL models in the US, to fix a faulty airbag inflator.

The fault causes the airbag, when deployed, to produce excessive internal pressure which may cause the airbag inflator casing to rupture, resulting in metal fragments passing through the airbag cushion material and possibly causing injury or fatality to vehicle occupants. In all, Honda says it is aware of an additional 12 incidents related to this issue as of February 2010.