Mercedes-Benz is recalling more than 1 million cars and SUVs worldwide because of a potential fire hazard.
The recall, according to the German car maker is because of a starter part can overheat and cause fires. It covers certain C-Class, E-Class and GLA and GLC SUVs model year 2015 to 2017.
Of the million vehicles to be recalled by Mercedes, 307,629 are in the United States. The company has not however given a breakdown of where vehicles will be called outside the United States.
According to Mercedes-Benz spokesman Rob Moran who spoke to DailyMail.com via email the starting current limiter of the vehicles could overload under unique conditions during the starting procedure.
Read: HP recalls more than 100,000 batteries for fears of overheating and fires
He said that in situations where the recalled vehicle’s engine cannot crank due to engine damage, if repeated attempts are made to start the vehicle, a very high electric current can flow through starting current limiter causing it to overheat.
‘Overheating of the starter current limiter could, in a worst-case scenario, cause surrounding components to melt and potentially create the risk of fire.’ he told DailyMail.
Mercedes says it became aware of the issue in June 2016, before launching investigations. Already, 51 fires have been reported, with 30 of them being in the U.S. market, a Mercedes-Benz U.S. spokesman said.
Owners of the affected vehicles will be notified by Mercedes in March.
