Advanced Search

The story appears on

Page B7

December 15, 2014

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Business » Autotalk Special

Carmakers to expand Takata air bag recall

Source: Agencies | December 15, 2014, Monday | Print Edition

Japanese automakers, including Honda Motor, Mazda Motor and Nissan Motor, are expanding a recall to replace potentially lethal Takata Corp air bag inflators across the globe, taking the total Takata-related recall tally of all brands to more than 19 million since 2008.

Defective Takata air bag inflators, which can explode and shoot shrapnel into the car, have been linked to four deaths in the United States and one in Malaysia.

As consumer concerns grow over the safety of Takata air bags, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last month ordered the supplier to take nationwide a recall of certain driver-side inflators that had been limited to areas of high humidity.

Takata has refused, challenging NHTSA’s legal authority to order such a recall when the cause behind the unusual deployment of its air bags is still unknown.

Honda earlier added about 2.6 million cars in the US when it expanded nationwide a recall of driver-side air bag inflators that was previously limited to 11 states and territories with hot and humid climates. Given Takata’s response, Honda’s US unit said it would voluntarily expand its regional recall to cover a total 5.4 million vehicles across the US.

Honda is working out which models and how many vehicles would be covered under a similar recall in other markets, a spokeswoman said last week.

Honda said it would recall more than 134,000 cars in Japan covering six models made between 2002 and 2013 that carry Takata driver-side air bags subject to the wider recalls in the United States. Honda will begin the recall in Okinawa, an island in southern Japan, at the end of the month.

Japan’s transport ministry has said that about 200,000 vehicles from Honda and Mazda Motor Corp would be subject to an expanded recall in Japan.

Unlike NHTSA, Japan’s regulator cannot order a recall unless the cause of the problem is known. Transport Minister Akihiro Ohta said the ministry would see whether it should change the law to be able to force an “investigative” recall after gauging the current series of Takata-related recalls, but added there were no immediate plans.

Several automakers have called back millions of cars in the US to replace Takata-made inflators and investigate the root cause of the problem in what is called a Safety Improvement Campaign, which is different from a typical recall to address known defects.

Takata is struggling to make replacement parts fast enough, and has forecast a loss this business year amid an escalating recall crisis.

The Nikkei business daily quoted Honda CEO Takanobu Ito as saying the automaker would step in to support Takata if needed, but Honda said he was not specifically referring to financial aid.

Separately, Japan’s Mazda Motor said last week that it will soon expand a recall of vehicles in the US involving potentially defective air bags from Takata. The carmaker will make existing regional recalls within the US nationwide, said spokeswoman Keiko Yano.

Mazda has not yet determined the number of vehicles involved nor when it will launch the recall, she said. The company has produced some 330,000 of the makes and models now under regional recalls.

The Mazda recall expansion will cover vehicles with driver’s-side air bags, Yano said.

Already under recall are 86,773 vehicles with Takata air bags on the driver’s or passenger’s side.

Nissan Motor Co also said last week it would recall around 152,000 cars worldwide that carry potentially defective Takata air bags.

Japan’s No. 2 automaker said it was recalling cars using Takata’s passenger side air bags including its Presage minivan models.

Nissan said it expanded its recall after a recent “unusual deployment” of a Takata air bag at a salvage yard in central Japan, which also triggered recalls by Toyota Motor Corp. The company also said it was recalling 250,000 cars, including its March model in Japan, over separate issues with its door mirrors.

Toyota Motor Corp said earlier this month it would call back 190,000 more vehicles to replace potentially defective air bags made by Takata.

Autotalk Special


 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend