Mercedes-Benz has issued a recall notice for more than 19,000 examples of its Mercedes-Benz EQC electric SUV over concerns that the power steering could suddenly fail.
The manufacturer hasn't clarified how many UK cars are affected, but according to the car-recalls.eu website, the recalled cars were built between 11 December 2019 and 18 May 2020.
It's also being reported that 3073 of the affected vehicles were sold in Germany.
In a statement issued to Autocar, the company said: "Mercedes-Benz AG has determined that on certain EQC vehicles (293 platform), the wiring harness of the electrical steering might have been damaged during the assembly process.
"In this case, water might ingress into the wiring harness through a damaged isolation and advance over time into the steering control unit. As a consequence, the steering assist might fail spontaneously, also during driving. In this case, the driver would be notified by a red warning message in the instrument cluster."
This is the latest in a number of quality control issues that have plagued the EQC since its 2019 launch. There are five additional recall notices listed on car-recalls.eu, covering issues including weak front-differential bolts, improperly tightened airbag nuts, non-compliant seatback locks and corroded battery housings.
Earlier this year, Mercedes was forced to recall around one million vehicles in the US after it emerged that the eCall emergency services alert function could broadcast the wrong location in the event of a crash. At the time, it was reported that European cars were also affected, although no official number has been given.
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Didn't see that one coming a mile off...............
Good luck with steering one of these lethiathans without power assistance! Then again even the most humble cars have such a high level of assistance that any steering control is almost impossible.
Typical German car build quality then.