TOKYO (AP) -- The truck-making affiliate of Japan's troubled Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is expected to recall several truck and bus models to repair possible defects, after finding that a faulty clutch may have led to a fatal accident, media reports said Thursday.

The news is the latest setback for Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. and its owners, Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Motors and German-American automaker DaimlerChrysler AG. It comes two weeks after seven former Mitsubishi Motors executives were arrested on suspicion of falsifying an accident report to cover up wheel-hub defects on trucks.

The national Nihon Keizai financial newspaper said Mitsubishi Fuso planned to inform the Transport Ministry about an October 2002 crash in which the driver of a Mitsubishi-made truck died.

According to the national Asahi newspaper, the truck's brakes likely failed after a part covering the clutch gave out.

Neither report cited sources.

Mitsubishi Fuso spokesman Seiichi Goto said the company was preparing to order a recall of trucks and buses in the coming weeks but declined to offer details. He wouldn't say whether the recall was expected to hit earnings.

The truckmaker's president, Wilfried Porth, was scheduled to hold a news conference later Thursday to discuss the planned recall, Goto said.

Although Mitsubishi Motors sold a stake in Mitsubishi Fuso to DaimlerChrysler in January 2003, both companies have been involved in investigations into dozens of wheel-separation accidents dating back more than a decade.

Mitsubishi Fuso admitted in March that design flaws in its wheel hubs could have led to accidents, including one in which a truck wheel came loose and killed one woman in January 2002. The company -- which is 65 percent-owned by DaimlerChrysler and 20 percent by Mitsubishi Motors -- has since begun recalling some 220,000 vehicles.

Company officials had blamed poor maintenance for that accident. But earlier this month, police arrested seven former executives of Mitsubishi Motors who were allegedly aware of defects that could cause wheels to detach in Mitsubishi trucks.

Mitsubishi Motors, Japan's fourth-largest automaker, has struggled to recover financially from a previous safety scandal.

The Tokyo-based automaker, 37 percent owned by DaimlerChrysler, admitted four years ago it concealed thousands of owner complaints to avoid a recall and has since been battling to restore confidence in its brand name.

Last month, DaimlerChrysler announced it would not inject any more money into Mitsubishi Motors, stoking speculation that DaimlerChrysler was preparing to unload its stake.

Mitsubishi Motors expects a group net loss of 72 billion yen (US$637 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31, mostly on losses related to buyers with bad credit in North America. The loss is a big reversal from the record net profit of 37.4 billion yen in the previous fiscal year.

The company is also saddled with 1.1 trillion yen (US$9.7 billion) in debt.

At the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Mitsubishi Motors shares were down 0.84 percent at 237 yen (US$2.10) in Thursday morning trading.

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