Included in that total are 2.2 million Honda vehicles recalled earlier this week in the United States for the same issue.
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The supplier said the air bags’ power-control units may corrode and interrupt electrical connections, causing the devices to either deploy inadvertently or fail to activate, according to filings to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“We are working closely with all potentially impacted vehicle manufacturers on this issue”, Continental spokeswoman Mary Arraf said.
In the documents, Continental says its problem first surfaced in January of 2008 when it analyzed a malfunctioning control unit that was removed from a Mercedes.
The recalls also include vehicles made by Volkswagen AG, Mazda Motor Corp, Kia Motors Corp, Volvo AB and Daimler AG.
Affected are model-year 2007-14 Ridgelines, effectively the entire model run since Honda moved production to Alabama from Canada.
The NHTSA opened an investigation in August 2015 after a complaint of a crash in a 2008 Honda Accord in which the airbags did not deploy. The defective modules were installed on Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Fiat Chrysler and potentially other vehicles from 2006 through 2010.
“If a customer is concerned that their vehicle may be affected, we would advise that they contact Honda customer services for further support”.
As a supplier, Continental can recall defective parts, but the automakers must conduct the actual vehicle recalls. The whereabouts of the remaining three million or so vehicles were not known. Fiat Chrysler will recall 112,000 2009 Dodge Journeys, plus all 2008-2009 Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans, with no announced fix schedule.
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Reuters reports that FCA has information on 25 inadvertent airbag deployments, in addition to seven minor injuries as a result of this flaw.
