Uber takes action to fix unsafe cars rented to Singapore drivers

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc said on Friday it has taken action to fix defective cars that it had rented to drivers in Singapore and was coordinating with regulators in the city state to resolve any concerns.

The Wall Street Journal earlier quoted internal Uber emails and documents showing the ride-hailing firm had rented more than 1,000 defective Vezel sport-utility vehicles, manufactured by Honda Motor Co, to drivers.

Honda recalled the model in April 2016 for an electrical component that could overheat and catch fire. Uber managers in Singapore were aware of the recall when they bought the vehicles, the report said.

"As soon as we learned of a Honda Vezel from the Lion City Rental fleet catching fire, we took swift action to fix the problem, in close coordination with Singapore's Land Transport Authority," Uber said in a statement.

"But we acknowledge we could have done more—and we have done so," it said, adding it had hired three experts at the rental firm to ensure it fully responded to safety recalls.

Singapore's Land Transport Authority had no immediate comment.

The latest incident adds to a growing list of problems affecting the San Francisco-based firm, which has been beset by complaints about its workplace culture, a federal inquiry into software to help drivers avoid police and an intellectual property lawsuit by Waymo, the self driving car unit of Google parent Alphabet Inc.