Benz is in a bit of a pickle with this one. Because of a faulty fuse, there have been 51 vehicle fires reported to the manufacturer, and they’ve taken action to recall a million units potentially affected by the issue. 30 of these incidents occurred in the U.S. while 307,629 of the recalled vehicles reside here.
Daimler told Automotive News that unsold cars containing this fuse will not be sold until they’ve been fixed by the dealer. This would save the headache of having to wrangle the vehicles back in once they’ve made their way to the road while trying to prevent any more fires in the future.
According to Mercedes, the fires occur after multiple failed attempts to start the vehicle. This means that the car would have to have an engine or transmission problem preventing the car from starting, initiating the fuse failure. Luckily, there were no injuries or deaths involved in the case.
A list of affected vehicles include the CLA-, C-, and E-Class sedans, and GLA- and GLC-Class crossovers. Each of these are big sellers for the manufacturer, meaning they’ve got some work to do. Expect to see official notices sent out over the course of the next month.