German watchdog calls for checks on some Opel models

By Andreas Cremer and Edward Taylor

BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's transport watchdog told owners of some Opel Adam and Corsa D models on Thursday to check their vehicles for faulty steering components.

The KBA said some components delivered to car parts retailers and independent workshops were found to be faulty and could break.

Opel said the warning was an effort to identify vehicles that had not been repaired in an earlier recall by the General Motors division <GM.N> affecting 236,000 vehicles in September 2014.

The company said that 226,000 vehicles had already been checked and that 1,500 potentially faulty components remain unaccounted for. Some of these components may have been delivered by General Motors to third-party workshops, an Opel spokesman said.

The KBA's warning comes as national vehicle authorities face pressure to conduct more stringent spot checks on cars and to surrender powers to the European Commission in the wake of Volkswagen's <VOWG_p.DE> emissions test cheating.

In November Opel's sister brand Vauxhall recalled 220,000 Zafira cars to inspect their heating and ventilation systems and ascertain the cause of fire-related incidents.

(Editing by Mark Potter and David Goodman)