SAN FRANCISCO — Uber knowingly rented recalled Honda sports utility vehicles to its drivers in Singapore, at least one of which caught fire, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The paper reported Uber's Singapore office bought more than 1,000 Honda Vezel sports utility vehicles to rent to its drivers there. The cars contained a faulty electrical part that could catch on fire and Honda had recalled in Japan and elsewhere. There had been at least six reports of fires in the Vezel.

As soon as Uber learned of its rented Honda Vezel catching fire, "we took swift action to fix the problem, in close coordination with Singapore’s Land Transport Authority as well as technical experts," Uber said in a statment. "But we acknowledge we could have done more—and we have done so."

The company said it has since introduced robust protocols and hired three dedicated experts in Singapore to ensure that it is fully responsive to safety recalls.

At least one Uber driver experienced a fire in January that destroyed the car he was driving, though he himself was not injured.

According to the Journal, Uber executives in Singapore decided to continue to rent the cars to drivers there, though it did disable the device that was under recall. Uber rents cars to drivers in Singapore because car ownership is extremely expensive there.

The Singapore accident is reminiscent of a range of Uber incidents that speak to a laissez-faire corporate culture of cutting corners and a lax attitude toward problem issues under former CEO Travis Kalanick.

The company is under a Department of Justice investigation for a program it ran in Portland, Ore. called Greyball that allowed it to track and avoid regulators who might be hailing rides to scrutinize the company's business practices.

Uber is also embroiled in an ongoing lawsuit with Waymo, Google's self-driving car division, over the alleged theft of plans by an engineer that Uber hired soon after he left Waymo.

Uber hit with criminal probe into Greyball ghost-app that tracked officials

Uber fires self-driving car guru Levandowski

In the past few months, Uber has also been hit with accusations that it turned a blind eye towards multiple instances of sexual harassment and discrimination.

Uber fires 20 after investigation sparked by engineer's sexual harassment claims

Uber's Kalanick got caught for tricking Apple, risking expulsion from Apple Store, report says

It also was rebuked for putting a digital wall around Apple's headquarters in an effort to hide the fact it was breaking Apple rules by marking iPhones with persistent digital ID tags that would remain after users had deleted the Uber app and wiped the phone.

Contributing: Marco della Cava