Honda Recalls 1.5 Million Cars in U.S.

Honda Motor Co. Ltd will recall 1.5 million cars and small SUVs in United States to repair the software that controls the automatic transmission, the automaker said Friday.

Kyodo news agency in Japan reported that another 760,000 Honda models were recalled in China, and that worldwide, some 2.49 million vehicles have been recalled.

That global total includes 135,142 vehicles in Canada. Honda Canada reported that recall.

Without updating the software, the automatic transmission in these vehicles could be damaged if the driver quickly shifted between gears. That might cause the engine to stall or make it difficult to put the car into park.

The recall affects four-cylinder Accord cars for the model years 2005 to 2010. The recall also affects the CR-V crossover for the model years 2007 to 2010 and the small SUV Element for the model years 2005 to 2008.

Honda said that if the transmission were quickly shifted between the reverse, neutral and drive positions, the automatic transmission secondary shaft bearing could be damaged. (Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)