Nissan Motor Co is recalling 2.14 million vehicles worldwide, including 194,409 autos sold on China's mainland, to repair a faulty ignition relay that the car maker says could cause engine problems.

This is the third largest recall by Nissan, which said that no accidents had been reported due to the defect.

In Japan alone, the car maker will recall 834,759 vehicles of nine models, including the Cube, March and Tiida, produced domestically between 2003 and 2006.

It will also recall 761,528 vehicles in the United States and Canada and 354,170 in Europe.

The glitch may "cause the engine to stall while running," the car maker said.

Dongfeng Nissan, Nissan's passenger car joint venture in China, said it will recall 102,817 vehicles made in China. These include 109 units of the Sylphy built between March 30, 2006 and July 27, 2006 and 102,708 units of the Tiida made between November 17, 2004 and May 22, 2006.

The other cars being recalled in China are imports.

Nissan will start to inform car owners from today to take their vehicles to garages to have defective parts replaced, though repairs will not start until November 28 as some parts must be imported. The repair process will take about 60 minutes.

Car owners can arrange their repair through local Dongfeng Nissan distributors or call a service hotline on 800-830-8899.

Toyota Motor Corp has been hit by a global recall crisis involving more than 10 million vehicles.

Last week, it announced a recall of 1.66 million vehicles around the world.