Honda recalls 489,000 CR-Vs in U.S., Europe

A man is silhouetted against a logo of Honda Motor at the company showroom in Tokyo January 31, 2012.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co (7267.T) said it would recall about 489,000 CR-Vs in Europe and the United States after finding rain water may enter the vehicles' power window switch on the driver's door, which could ultimately cause the switch to overheat and catch fire.

The Japanese automaker will be recalling about 220,000 CR-V sport utility vehicles in Europe, some 268,000 units in the United States and fewer than 100 in Africa, a Honda spokeswoman said on Sunday. All the recalled vehicles are from model years 2002 through 2006.

There have been reports of five switch fires, but no crashes or injuries have been reported related to the issue, the spokeswoman said.

Honda, Japan's third-largest automaker, did not give estimated costs for the recall.

The development comes on the heels of another Honda recall of more than 600,000 Accord mid-sized sedans in North America to address a potential power steering fluid leak problem that could cause a fire under the hood.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)