Some documents made public today reveal that airbag control units made by Continental between the years 2006 and 2010 are affected. “In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver’s frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death”.
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As of now, around 600,000 vehicles in the US have actually been recalled, though that number is set to still grow.
The memo also included a warning: vehicle dealerships would be responsible for any claims stemming from selling an unrepaired auto from the affected population. Fiat Chrysler said none of the affected vehicles used air-bag inflaters equipped with ammonium nitrate, a chemical propellant linked to problems in exploding air bags made by a separate company, Takata Corp. At least 11 people have been reported dead worldwide, and 139 injured from the problem, according to Forbes. While Mercedes, Fiat Chrysler and Honda all responded promptly to the allegations and issued massive recalls from 2008 to 2009, the issue is far from over for all these automakers. The company will not have enough parts for replacement for all of the vehicles until autumn.
Reuters reports that Honda recalled another 269,000 similar models in Canada on Monday for the same issue. In the past Honda has said it will provide loaner vehicles for owners with vehicles under Takata recall if parts are not yet available; that also could be the case with this expansion.
Honda said the PSDI-5 inflators will be replaced, beginning this summer, with parts from another supplier. Honda said about 2.2 percent of revenue this fiscal year has been reserved for quality-related expenses, up from 1.9 percent in earlier years.
Last year, Toyota bought more than 13 million airbag inflators from Takata-rival Nippon Kayakuto to replace the faulty ones.
On Wednesday, Democratic Sen.
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US Senator Bill Nelson, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, denounced what he called “the never-ending flow of piecemeal recall announcements for Takata air bags”, which he said “needs to end”. It’s the largest automotive recall in US history. There is still ongoing work. All airbags nationwide will eventually be recalled.
