Mercedes-Benz US SUV recall: ML, G-Class affected

America's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says the recall of 8675 model year 2012-2013 Mercedes-Benz ML350, ML550 and ML63 SUVs is due to an optional all-season floor mat that "may not fully conform to the contour of the vehicle's floor plan as intended".

The ill-fitting all-season mat may reduce the clearance between itself and the accelerator pedal, potentially allowing for the pedal to become stuck.

While the NHTSA says the stuck pedal could increase the risk of a crash as the vehicle may not be able to decelerate as expected, Mercedes-Benz's cars feature a failsafe system that ensures the brake pedal overrides the accelerator in the event that both pedals are depressed at the same time.

Owners will be notified by Mercedes-Benz and dealers will replace the floor mats with correctly fitting mats at no cost.

The NHTSA advises that consumers should remove the floor mats from the vehicles until the replacement mats are installed.

Joining the recalled ML-Class (pictured above) vehicles are 189 model year 2011 G550 and G55 AMG SUVs, manufactured between September 20, 2010 and April 27, 2011, recalled for a faulty piece of trim.

The NHTSA says during a front passenger airbag deployment event, parts of the vehicles moulding strip could potentially come loose, becoming a projectile in the passenger compartment potentially risking passenger safety.

Owners will again be notified, with Mercedes-Benz to reinforce the connection between the G-Class' moulding strip and the airbag cover flap at no cost.

Mercedes-Benz Australia's Jerry Stamoulis told CarAdvice that they are awaiting confirmation on whether local G-Class vehicles are affected by the recall issue and that just under 200 sets of the non-standard all-season ML-Class mats have been distributed to dealers, with owners being contacted accordingly. Stamoulis highlighted that there have been no reports of incidents relating to the mats in either the US or Australia.

In Australia, Mercedes' ML range is priced from $81,400 to $177,900, while the G-Class ranges from $161,680 to $217,230.

The German brand’s two recalls on its two four-wheel drive SUV platforms isn’t the way it would have liked to mark its 105th anniversary of its first four-wheel drive vehicle, the 1907 Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) Dernburg-Wagen.