About 24 million vehicles are being recalled in the US, the largest automotive recall in American history, and millions more globally. Once this happens, corrosion buildup causes a power failure and the airbags don’t deploy in a crash, or they could randomly deploy when the vehicle hasn’t been in an accident.
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Honda explains that this recall has been made based on a Defect Information Report from airbag supplier, Takata.
A spokesperson for Continental told Reuters that between 1.5 million and 2 million of the affected vehicles were sold in the us, but the company did not provide a listing of the vehicles.
Honda spokesman Chris Martin confirmed the dealer memo as well as the stop-sale order, which he said is Honda’s protocol with any recall that involves cars likely to be among dealer’s new or certified pre-owned inventory.
Carmakers will replace the computers at no cost to owners, according to documents.
As well, Chrysler will be recalling 112,000 cars in the United States; it isn’t clear how many vehicles other auto makers will be recalling.
The Takata airbags inflator has the tendency to rupture in a crash spray metal shrapnel at the occupants.
Fortunately, there have been no reports of new airbag inflator ruptures as yet, but faulty Takata airbags are known to have caused several deaths worldwide. 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.
Continental Automotive will recall faulty airbag control units that were installed in 5 million vehicles worldwide.
Last year, Mercedes recalled 126,260 C-Series cars from 2008-09 and GLK350 vehicles from 2010 because of the problem.
A driver in Belleview, Florida, was injured when his vehicle hit a concrete wall at 50 miles per hour and the air bags didn’t inflate, according to a complaint filed with the agency.
The latest action, for 2.23 million vehicles, reveals just how much Honda, a longtime partner of Takata and the automaker most affected by the defective air bags, continues to be haunted by them.
It recalled another 269,000 similar models in Canada on Monday for the same issue. The non-desiccated PSDI-5 Takata driver front airbag inflators will be replaced, free of charge.
As of now, around 600,000 vehicles in the US have actually been recalled, though that number is set to still grow.
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Honda said, however, that replacement parts are presently scarce and can only be requested for cars with air bag issues and with vehicle damage.
