Chrysler recalls 4,278 Viper sports cars on airbag issue

A Chrysler auto assembly worker walks past a 2008 Dodge Viper on the assembly line of the Chrysler Conner Avenue Assembly plant Detroit, Michigan March 12, 2008.

DETROIT (Reuters) - Chrysler Group LLC said on Friday it is recalling 4,278 Dodge Viper sports cars globally to fix a part that could cause the airbags to inadvertently deploy, expanding a recall from last fall.

The U.S. automaker, controlled by Fiat SpA, is recalling 3,660 of the Vipers in the United States from model years 2003 and 2004 to address a potential for the front airbags or seat belt pretensioners to mistakenly deploy. Also affected are 440 cars in Canada, 10 in Mexico and 168 in the rest of the world.

Chrysler said it is unaware of any inadvertent deployments in the Vipers. An interim notification is expected to be sent this month with a remedy available later in the year, according to documents filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Affected vehicles will be fitted, at no charge, with a harness filter that restores a control module's capacity to manage the airbag and pretensioner deployment.

Last November, Chrysler recalled about 923,000 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty SUVs from model years 2002 through 2004 for the same issue.

(Reporting By Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)