Mercedes recalls 24,243 cars in Japan

DaimlerChrysler has recalled as many as 24,243 Mercedes-Benz cars in Japan for free repairs of defective parts, said a japantoday.com report.

As many as 14 Mercedes models, including S-class and CL-class cars, were said to have some fault in air-conditioners, oil pumps and trunk lids.

The cars were imported between August 1998 and March 2004. Mercedes-Benz is Japan's second largest import brand in terms of unit sales.

'The cars may catch fire due to defective parts in air-conditioning systems and hydraulic shock absorbers,' japantoday.com said, quoting DaimlerChrysler Japan's report filed with the country's transport ministry.

Mercedes will recall 16,132 cars to repair air-conditioner parts, 4,152 cars to fix oil pumps and 3,959 vehicles to mend trunk lids, the ministry said.