Honda recalling 143,000 Civics, Fits to fix faulty software 

California: Honda is recalling 143,000 Civic and Fit vehicles in the U.S. to fix a software problem that could cause the front wheels to lock up. The recall announced Thursday is for the 2014 and 2015 model years for the Honda Civic and the 2015 model for the Fit. The software that will be repaired for free manages continuously variable transmission. Honda says the software was programmed in a way that exposes the vehicles’ drive pulley shaft to more stress than it was built to handle.

The car maker says no crashes or injuries have been linked to the software issue yet. Recall notices are expected to be sent to affected customers in mid-October. Meanwhile, details of  automakers’ September sales were released Thursday.

There was a bright spot for Volkswagen. Its luxury Audi brand — which has one model, the A3, involved in the scandal — saw sales climb 16 percent and said September was a record month for the brand in the U.S. Sales of Audi’s big SUVs like the Q5 and Q7 were strong, and A3 sales rose 16 percent.

General Motors Co. sold 251,310 cars and trucks. Total Chevrolet sales rose 11 percent, and the company said GMC had its best September since 2004.

Ford sold 221,599 vehicles, with its F-Series pickup truck — the top-selling vehicle in the country — climbing 16 percent to more than 69,000 trucks. Ford’s Lincoln luxury brand notched a 20 percent sales increase thanks to new SUVs.

Toyota sold 194,370 vehicles. Prius hybrid sales rose 12 percent despite relatively low gas prices, while RAV4 SUV sales jumped 18 percent.

Fiat Chrysler sold more than 193,000 vehicles for its best September since 2000. Jeep sales rose 40 percent, offsetting slower growth elsewhere. Sales for the company’s Ram and Dodge brands climbed 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

Honda sold 133,750 vehicles. The CR-V small SUV set a monthly record, with sales up 26 percent to nearly 30,000.

Nissan sales rose to 121,782, helped by a 30 percent increase for its Infiniti luxury brand.

Hyundai sales rose to 64,015. Sales of its newly redesigned Tucson SUV more than doubled

AP