Mazda Motor Corp will recall 190,000 of its CX-7 sport utility vehicles from model years 2007 to 2012 in the US because of an issue that may cause a loss of steering control, US safety regulators said on Friday.

"In the affected vehicles, water may enter the front suspension ball joint fittings," the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement on its website.

"If the water is contaminated with salt, such as from driving on snowy roads that have been treated, the ball joint may corrode and separate from the lower control arm, resulting in a loss of steering control."

Mazda told regulators it will work to fix CX-7s in cold-weather US states first.

In July 2015, Mazda recalled about 193,000 of its larger CX-9 SUVs from model years 2007 to 2014, for a similar issue.

Mazda said it has gotten no reports of injuries or crashes in the CX-7 SUVs.

Mazda did not immediately respond to an inquiry on whether any vehicles outside of the US market will be recalled. – Reuters