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Software Error Forces DaimlerChrysler Recall

DaimlerChrysler has recalled 43.000 of its sport utility vehicles (SUVs) worldwide, citing a software error that can cause gauge and lamp failures.

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They don't all work properly. About 1.500 of the recalled vehicles are registered in Germany aloneImage: AP

The error in 2002 models of Chrysler PT Cruisers and Jeep Grand Cherokees affects the function of a microprocessor in the instrument cluster controlling gauges and illumination of lamps such as the warning lights.

About 1.500 of the recalled vehicles are registered in Germany, all PT Cruisers.

Owners of the models, which both use the same flawed software, have been informed by post over recent months. They are invited to visit Chrysler and Jeep dealerships, where the microprocessor can be repaired.

The recall is bad news on top of disappointing results for the giant automaker, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, and Auburn Hills in the US state of Michigan.

In the third quarter of this year, DaimlerChrysler suffered losses owing largely to economic slowdown in North America and Europe.

The company sold 4.2 million passenger cars and 549.000 commercial vehicles last year, manufacturing in 37 countries.

The PT Cruise and Cherokee recall is the second in a week for the automaker.

Earlier this week, a Turkish court forced a recall of buses made by subsidiary Mercedes-Benz Turk. The court order referred to the subsidiary's 0403 model buses manufactured between 1995 and 1998.

The subsidiary accused the court of "trying to discredit" Mercedes-Benz Turk. The court's decision was a long-awaited reaction to a 1997 accident in which 49 passengers were killed when their 0403 bus collided with a petrol tanker.