DETROIT – Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz is undertaking a global recall of some of its older-model M-Class sport utility vehicles for issues related to cruise control that may lead to a crash, Daimler and U.S. federal safety regulators said on Tuesday.

A wide majority of the vehicles being recalled are model year 2000-2002 M-Class SUVs, but there are a small number of 2000-2004 AMG performance vehicles also involved, reported Reuters.

Some 136,751 vehicles will be recalled in the United States and about 50,000 in Germany, said Mercedes-Benz representatives in those two countries.

Daimler representatives at its world headquarters in Germany did not provide a global recall figure.

No crashes or injuries have resulted from the issue, said Mercedes-Benz USA spokesman Rob Moran.

Tapping the brakes to disengage cruise control may fail, increasing the chances of a crash, a filing with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

There are other ways, including working a “cruise control stalk” on the steering wheel or applying firm consistent pressure on the brakes, that will still disengage the system in the event that tapping the brakes fails, Mercedes-Benz USA said. Cruise control also automatically disengages at speeds of 25 miles per hour or less, Moran said.

“Since the situation is triggered by a malfunction of the brake lamp switch, Mercedes-Benz USA will replace the brake lamp switch on these models beginning in September at no cost to customers,” Moran said.

He said it will take a half year before the repairs begin to “ensure an adequate replacement parts supply.”

U.S. consumers will be informed of the recall in the next few weeks.

“We will also remind them to disengage the cruise control by using the stalk or by applying firm pressure on the brake pedal, and to avoid pumping the brakes,” Moran said.

The recall was prompted by several complaints from consumers, NHTSA and the automaker said.

TOKYO – Toyota Motor Corp. is fine-tuning a dealer remedy for faulty accelerator pedals in 2.3 million recalled vehicles and aims to announce the fix as early as next week, a person familiar with the matter told Automotive News.

The procedure involves inserting a metal shim into a gap in the friction lever of the pedal. Doing so will reduce friction and prevent the pedal from sticking, the person said.

Among the last-minute tweaks are testing for durability and ensuring that the remedy is something that dealers can easily employ.

Toyota spokeswoman Ririko Takeuchi said the automaker hasn’t yet decided on a final dealer remedy and is still unclear on a timeline for rolling it out.

Toyota is taking a two-pronged approach. It has to develop a remedy for the cars already on the road that the dealers can implement. It also has to develop a new part that can go into cars on the assembly line. The solution is likely to be different for each set of vehicles.

WASHINGTON – A House committee has begun investigating whether Toyota Motor Corp. and its top executives, as well as the Obama and Bush administrations, responded adequately to customer complaints of sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles, reported Automotive News.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a Feb. 4 hearing titled “Toyota Gas Pedals: Is the Public at Risk?” to better understand the government’s response to the recall of 2.3 million vehicles due to reports of malfunctioning gas pedals.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defended its actions in a statement Friday, reported The Detroit News.

“NHTSA wants to assure owners of Toyota vehicles that it has taken, and will continue to take, all steps necessary to ensure that Toyota appropriately addresses problems related to unintended acceleration in its vehicles,” it said.

“NHTSA takes every allegation of safety problems seriously and that is why we read every consumer complaint within one business day of receipt. In recent years, NHTSA has conducted several investigations into possible causes of unwanted acceleration incidents experienced by owners of various Toyota models.”

TOKYO – Honda Motor Co. recalled 646,000 of its Fit/Jazz and City automobiles globally over a faulty window switch after a child died when fire broke out in a car last year, Reuters reported.

The recall includes 141,084 vehicles in the United States and covers the models sold in North America, South America, Europe, South Africa and Asia, but not Japan, a spokeswoman said.

The Fit is Honda’s best-selling model in Japan.

The U.S. recall covers Fits from model years 2007 and 2008, Honda spokeswoman Christina Ra said.

Earlier this week, Toyota Motor Corp. announced it would extend to Europe and China a recall of millions of vehicles due to faulty accelerator pedals and floor mats.

Honda said the recall was to fix a defective master switch, which could cause water to enter the power window switch and in some cases cause a fire.

There were three reported cases of fires due to the defect, two in the United States and one in South Africa, the spokeswoman said.