STOCKHOLM, Jan 27 (AFP) - General Motor's Swedish subsidiary Saab on Thursday said it was recalling up to 400,000 of its 9-5 and 9-3 cars worldwide due to an engine design flaw.
Owners of the cars were advised to bring them in for repair of the flaw, which could lead to a rapid deterioration of oil quality and damage turbo-charged engines.
"As many as 400,000 cars may be affected worldwide," Saab spokesman Oerjan Aaslund told AFP, refusing to reveal how much money the company would be forced to spend on the repairs.
The company on Thursday said it would issue an eight-year retroactive engine guarantee for its 1998 to 2000 9-5 models and its 2000 to 2003 9-3 models.
"The guarantee means that customers who have been affected by motor problems due to oil sludge will receive full financial compensation," Saab said in a statement, pointing out that the purchaser of a vehicle in 1998 would still have a valid guarantee through 2006.
The car manufacturer said that about four percent of the 95,000 cars equipped with the engines in question circulating in Sweden appeared to have experienced problems.
"Sweden has been more affected than many other markets... mainly due to the fact that it is colder here and it takes longer for the engines to warm up," Aaslund said, insisting that Saab had gone beyond the call of duty to rectify the engine flaw.
"We heard that our customers had problems and we decided to fix them. We think this is a very generous offer," he added.
The Saab cars are produced at Trollhaettan in southwestern Sweden, which is competing with a plant at Ruesselsheim near Frankfurt to produce a future range of mid-sized GM cars.
01/27/2005 15:20 GMT - AFP