Mazda, GM to recall sport utility vehicles

<br>WASHINGTON (AP) _ Mazda is recalling 106,000 Tribute sport utility vehicles because they can stall without warning, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday. Separately, General

Thursday, April 15th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Mazda is recalling 106,000 Tribute sport utility vehicles because they can stall without warning, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday. Separately, General Motors announced a recall because of seat belt defects that could affect up to 1.8 million SUVs.

Involved in the Mazda recall are Tributes from the 2001-2003 model years with 3-liter, V6 engines.

In a letter sent to NHTSA in May 2002, Mazda said the engine stalling didn't present ``an unreasonable risk to motor safety.'' At that time, Mazda said it had received 2,087 reports of stalling and that accidents resulted in three cases.

The Tribute is similar to the Ford Escape, which was recalled earlier this week for the same defect. Ford said engine stalling in the Escape had caused eight minor accidents.

Mazda dealers will reprogram the Tribute for free as part of the recall.

Also Thursday, General Motors Corp. said it will recall some of its 2001 and 2002 Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy and Oldsmobile Bravada SUVs because their seat belts don't meet federal safety standards.

GM spokesman Jim Schell said the company is still determining which of its SUVs need to have their seat belts replaced, but the recall could affect up to 1.8 million vehicles. GM said the seat belt defect wouldn't affect safety, but NHTSA disagreed.