WASHINGTON — An auto safety advocacy group wants the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to fine Honda Motor Co. over its recall of more than 2.7 million vehicles for an airbag defect that’s been linked to two deaths.

The Center for Auto Safety said in a letter Monday to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it wants a civil penalty against Honda “for failing to initiate a timely recall of defective driver airbag inflators that rupture and send shrapnel into the driver,” reported The Detroit News.

Honda didn’t immediately comment on the letter Monday.

On Friday, Honda said it was recalling 876,000 vehicles in the United States for airbag problems. It’s the fifth separate recall for the issue since 2008.

In total, Honda has recalled 2.53 million vehicles in the United States — and 2.7 million worldwide — over faulty airbags that could injure drivers in what is Honda’s largest-ever recall.

The airbags have been linked to about 20 incidents.

Honda said it will replace airbags in 272,779 2001-2002 vehicles because some airbags may inflate with too much pressure.

That pressure can cause the inflator to rupture. As a result, metal fragments could pass through the airbag cushion, causing injury or death to vehicle occupants, Honda said.

Honda is also recalling another 603,421 vehicles to find 640 replacement parts.

This recall now includes 2001-02 Accord, 2001-03 Civic, 2001-03 Odyssey, 2002-03 CR-V, 2003 Pilot, 2002-03 Acura 3.2 TL and 2003 Acura 3.2 CL vehicles.

The latest recall was prompted by a crash and injury in August in Florida in a Honda that hadn’t been recalled, Honda spokesman Chris Martin said Friday. That prompted Honda to reassess whether it had recalled all potentially faulty airbags.

Martin said Honda is now confident it has found all potentially faulty vehicles.

At least 18 injuries and two deaths have been linked to the issue, including an 18-year-old Oklahoma high school student, Ashley Parham, who died in May 2009 when metal shards hit her after the airbag deployed in her 2001 Accord.

“Honda’s submissions to NHTSA fail to disclose what it knew and when in dragging out the recall,” the group said.

A NHTSA spokeswoman, Lynda Tran, said the agency has received the letter. “We have received the letter and will respond accordingly,” she said.

In August 2009, NHTSA sent a letter to Honda asking questions about whether the automaker had recalled enough vehicles for the issue.

Honda said it is aware of several incidents related to this recall and expansions, and is announcing this further recall expansion to encourage all owners of included vehicles to take their vehicle to an authorized dealer.

It is very rare for NHTSA to seek to impose civil fines on automakers for failing to recall vehicles in a timely manner.

In 2010, Toyota Motor Corp. agreed to pay $48.8 million in federal fines, settling three federal investigations that found the automaker delayed recalling about 6 million vehicles. In total, the three fines are the largest ever in U.S. history.

In 2004, General Motors paid the previously largest fine — $1 million — to settle charges that it failed to conduct a timely recall to correct a safety defect. The problem involved windshield wiper failure in 581,344 vehicles manufactured in 2002 and 2003.

Under the law, the current maximum fine for failing to recall vehicles in a timely manner is $17.35 million.

DETROIT – General Motors Co. is recalling more than 50,000 Cadillac SRX crossovers in North America to reprogram airbags.

GM told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the right side head-protecting air bag won’t deploy in a crash if no one is in the front seat, reported The Detroit News.

As a result, a backseat passenger may not be fully protected and could get hurt. GM spokesman Alan Adler said no crashes or injuries have been reported.

“The air bags are programmed to turn off the right side roof rail air bag if the passenger-sensing system determines that the right front passenger seat is unoccupied,” NHTSA said, even though the owner’s manual says it will still deploy. As a result, the vehicle does not comply with federal safety requirements.

The recall affects SRXs built over a three-month period — 47,400 SRXs sold in the United States and about 3,100 in Canada and Mexico. Dealers will reprogram the sensors and GM will start notifying owners today.

No parts are required. The repair is expected to take less than 30 minutes not counting waiting time at the dealership.

This is a North American issue only, because other exported models use a manual key to disable the passenger side airbag. The key disable system does not suppress the roof rail airbags, GM said.

WASHINGTON – About 8.4 million Ford vehicles that can possibly catch fire remain on the road because of lack of owner information even after the largest U.S. safety recall ever, Automotive News reported.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration urged owners of the 14 million vehicles recalled between 1999 and 2009 for leaky cruise-control switches to take their unrepaired vehicles in to dealers. The switches on those vehicles may leak into the antilock brake system, Ford has said.

“If not repaired, the vehicles can catch fire, even if they are turned off, parked and unattended,” NHTSA’s statement today said.

A NHTSA spokeswoman said that about 60 percent of the 14 million recalled vehicles — or 8.4 million – have not been brought in for repair by owners.

Typically, about 30 percent of recalled vehicles are not returned for repair within a year-and-a-half of the announcement, said the spokeswoman, who asked not to be named.

Today’s statement singled out used-car owners who may not know whether the vehicles they bought had ever been returned to dealers for needed repairs.

It also urged owners “to watch for potential warning signs of an imminent fire.”

Those signs include a cruise-control system or brake lights that stop working, low brake fluid and the illumination of brake warning lights on the dashboard.

Ford has notified owners about the recalls a number of times, company spokesman Wesley Sherwood said.

The repair rate for the Ford models has been “likely lower than typical” because of their age, he added.

NHTSA praised the automaker’s notification efforts as “diligent.”

Among the models that have been recalled over the years are 1992-2003 E series, 1993-2003 F series, 1995-2003 Windstars, 1995-2002 Explorers and 1995-2003 Rangers.

Ford’s series of eight recalls for the same defect amounted to the largest-ever U.S. recall, according to NHTSA data. The 14 million vehicles recalled are nearly double the size of the next biggest.

Ford’s most recent recall of 4.5 million vehicles for leaky cruise-control switches was in October 2009 after customer complaints of 72 fires.

Kia Motors America said it is recalling about 35,000 2010-11 Souls and Sorentos because faulty wiring harnesses could short and cause a fire, reported Automotive News.

The recall affects about 23,972 2010 Soul compact crossovers equipped with a special lighting system that includes illuminated front speakers in the interior door panel. About 11,213 2011 Sorento crossovers equipped with a similar feature in the “Limited” options package also are affected.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received four complaints of fires in the interior door panels of the 2010 Kia Soul while the vehicle was being driven. No crashes were reported.

Kia said it was not aware of any accidents or injuries that have resulted from the problem, and owners of vehicles with the illuminated speaker option can turn off the feature to prevent damage before taking the vehicles to dealers for repairs.

According to a Kia, a limited number of wiring harnesses supplied by Johnson Controls Inc. may have been soldered improperly. The harness could short out in certain conditions, possibly causing a fire, the statement said. Kia did not detail the type of conditions that could lead to a short.

TOKYO – Mazda Motor Corp. expects to recall more than half a million vehicles worldwide due to power-steering flaws, its largest recall ever, Reuters reported.

The automaker has filed applications with local authorities to recall 215,000 vehicles in the United States and more than 10,000 in China, and now plans to broaden the net to include major export markets such as Europe and Australia, the spokesman said.

The recalls, estimated at 514,000 vehicles, target the Axela and the Premacy, known in some markets as the Mazda3 and the Mazda5, manufactured in Japan from 2007 to 2008.

The vehicles could experience a sudden loss of power steering, increasing the risk of a crash.

The spokesman said there had been three accidents reported in the United States in connection with the defect but no deaths or injuries.

The company said rust could break lose from a high-pressure pipe, straining the power steering pump and causing the system to shut down.

Last year it remedied the problem for models in Japan after issuing an advisory.

Toyota Motor Corp. has recalled more than 10 million vehicles since late last year due largely to problems with unintended acceleration that raised a storm of criticism in the United States.

It was fined a record $16.4 million by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the maximum then allowed, for moving too slowly to recall vehicles with defective accelerator pedals.

WASHINGTON – General Motors Co. said it plans to recall more than 243,000 model year 2009/2010 crossover sport utilities, mainly in the United States, to inspect safety belts for possible damage, Reuters reported.

The automaker and regulators said most of the Chevy Traverse, Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, and Saturn Outlook vehicles were shipped within the United States. Several thousands others were exported to Canada, Mexico, China, Saudi Arabia and other countries.

GM said potential damage to the second-row safety belts could make it appear as if the latch were properly secured when it was not.

The problem was discovered during warranty returns, and any damage was cosmetic in the vast majority of cases, GM said in documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

There are no known cases of belts failing in a crash, GM said.

GM said it would begin notifying owners by letter this month to make appointments with dealership service departments for repairs.