Inadvertent air bag deployment triggers Fiat Chrysler minivan recall

Fiat Chrysler said Thursday that it would recall nearly 300,000 minivans in North America to fix air bags that could inadvertently deploy and have been blamed for at least eight injuries.

The recall affects the 2011 and 2012 model-year Dodge Grand Caravan, with 209,135 vehicles located in the U.S. and 87,703 in Canada.

Fiat Chrysler said the injuries connected to the defect were "minor" and that it had linked no crashes to the issue. The company initially said it had identified 13 injuries connected to the defect, but later said it had new information that reduced that number to eight.

"Wiring may chafe against pieces of steering-wheel trim, potentially causing a short-circuit," Fiat Chrysler said in a statement. "This may lead to a second short-circuit that is potentially capable of producing inadvertent deployment of the driver-side front air bag."

The issue is not connected to the Takata crisis, Fiat Chrysler spokesman Eric Mayne said. The Japanese auto supplier's air bags have exploded and killed more than a dozen people worldwide, triggering the largest recall in U.S. history.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.