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U.S. Recalls Mitsubishi, Yamaha, Chrysler

DETROIT March 4, 2005; Reuters reported that Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Chrysler and Yamaha Motor Co., the world's second-largest motorcycle company, have all been hit with new U.S. safety recalls, federal regulators said on Friday.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the biggest of the recalls covered 190,000 motorcycles from Yamaha, because their passenger seats can fall off the rear fender.

The motorcycles affected, from the 1996 to 2005 model years, were identified in an advisory on NHTSA's Web site (http://www.nhtsa.com) as the Yamaha XV250, XVS11 and XVS65.

Separately, NHTSA said the North American division of problem-plagued Mitsubishi was recalling 65,436 of its midsized and car-based Endeavor sport utility vehicles, built between 2004 and 2005, because their parking brakes may fail.

Mitsubishi has been struggling to shore up its image since 2000, when it was discovered that it had been hiding safety records and secretly repairing faulty vehicles for more than two decades in Japan. Its U.S. vehicle sales have fallen by about 44 percent so far this year.

NHTSA also said DaimlerChrysler AG's U.S.-based Chrysler unit was recalling 43,180 of its wagonlike Pacifica SUVs because some may experience intermittent or eventual total failure of their halogen headlamps.

The Pacificas recalled are all from the 2005 model year, the agency said.