CHINA - Honda recalls over 550,000 Accords and Elysion models for Takata Airbag issues.

Honda Motor Co. two Chinese joint ventures are recalling 553,000 vehicles to fix potentially defective airbabs made by Takata Corp., underscoring the global reach of the safety crisis after similar campaigns in the U.S., Canada and Japan.

Guangqi Honda, one of its Chinese joint ventures, will recall 527,136 Accords produced from May 2002 to December 2007 to replace the driver-side airbags, according to the website of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

Another Honda venture will recall 26,128 Elysion minivans made from June 2012 to June 2014, the company said.

The latest recalls will add to the more than 13 million cars Honda has called back globally to replace Takata airbags that can deploy with too much force and spew metal parts at motorists.

Since 2008, automakers have recalled more than 20 million vehicles worldwide that were equipped with Takata airbags.

Honda has tapped two alternative suppliers to make substitute airbag inflators after Takata's devices were linked to four fatalities in the U.S. and the death of a pregnant woman and her unborn child in Malaysia.

"Because of the increasing use of common components, carmakers can be extremely vulnerable if a single, key supplier like Takata fails in quality," Seiji Sugiura, an auto analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center, said by phone. "Honda and other carmakers will have to switch to other suppliers in the longer term."

No injuries and deaths have been linked to the recalled vehicles in China, said Honda spokeswoman Misato Fukushima. The automaker will announce more recalls in other markets once it figures out how many vehicles to recall, she said.

Zhu Linjie, a spokesman for Honda in China, said the recall will start on Feb. 28 because replacement inflators aren't available right now. Motorists can drive the cars as usual and don't have to disable the airbags, he said.

Honda's latest action was an investigative recall, which automakers conduct as a preventive measure to fix vehicles before establishing a defect officially exists.

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