FRANKFURT, Sept 5 (Reuters) - A joint venture of Siemens and Robert Bosch is recalling 5 million dishwashers worldwide, having discovered that a faulty electrical part poses a fire hazard.
There have been problems with the dishwashers, branded Bosch, Siemens, Neff, Constructa and Junker+Ruh, overheating for years already, but they had so far been assumed to be caused by issues related to local power grids, a spokeswoman for the joint venture, BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeraete, said On Thursday.
The incidents occurred in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and Ireland, and BSH for the first time recalled dishwashers in the United States in 2009, she said.
BSH has now discovered that a faulty electrical part in dishwashers manufactured between 1999 and 2005 was at least partly the cause of overheating, prompting the company to start the global recall on Aug. 30.
In Germany, where 2 million of the affected dishwashers have been sold, there have been 69 incidents of smouldering inside the machine, in most cases without leading to open fire, the spokeswoman said.
She was unable to say how many incidents there have been worldwide and how much the recall might cost. Bosch and Siemens hold equal shares in the joint venture. (Reporting by Peter Dinkloh; editing by Mark Heinrich)