45,000 lorries recalled over faulty hub

Japanese lorry maker Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation today announced it was recalling as many as 45,000 vehicles because of a faulty wheel part which police are investigating in connection with dozens of accidents, including a fatal one.

The recall involving mostly freight lorries will replace the front wheel hubs because of a design flaw, Mitsubishi Fuso President and CEO Wilfried Porth said at a news conference in Tokyo.

It will only affect a very small number of vehicles overseas since Mitsubishi Fuso’s exports are primarily lightweight vehicles.

Mitsubishi Fuso had previously denied any error in the production and design of the vehicles and pointed to faulty maintenance.

The company, whose top shareholder is Germany’s DaimlerChrysler AG, expects the recall to cost about €22.1m, but Porth said it would not affect earnings targets.

Under an earlier voluntary replacement scheme, the Tokyo-based company has already repaired some 75,000 vehicles. Today’s recall comes after the company reopened an investigation into about 50 reported accidents of wheels coming loose from heavy-duty trucks.

In one case, 29-year-old Shiho Okamoto was killed and her two sons injured in January 2002 when a wheel rolled off a Mitsubishi lorry and hit them as they walked along a pavement in Yokohama, west of Tokyo.

Investigators found the hub linking the axle to the wheel was broken.

Porth said the company’s new management installed last year had taken a closer look at the earlier investigation and determined the earlier findings were “not correct”.

Recent investigations uncovered a design flaw which, along with other factors like vehicle load, could place excessive stress on the wheel hub, causing it to crack and possibly detach a wheel, said Mitsubishi Fuso’s Senior Vice President Joerg Zuern.

“Design itself is not the only reason for a crack to occur,” but is partly responsible for hubs cracking, Zuern said.

Porth denied any deliberate cover-up and refused to comment on legal aspects of the case.

“We express our sincere condolences to the family of the victim,” he said.

Mitsubishi Fuso, Japan’s third biggest truck maker, was spun off from Mitsubishi Motors in January 2003. It is 42% owned by Mitsubishi Motors, while DaimlerChrysler AG holds a 43% stake.