The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says Takata is recalling up to 40 million more air bag inflators.
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Before Wednesday’s announcement, the Takata airbag recall covered about 29 million airbags in 24 million vehicles in the U.S. It spans 14 automakers and 22 brands.
The safety agency described this effort as the “largest and most complex safety recall in USA history”.
The expansion of what was already the nation’s largest auto recall is due to be announced later Wednesday by Mark Rosekind, the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The government didn’t provide a list of those models, but said they’re being added to the website.
Such an expansion would cost Takata billions on top of what it already has spent replacing inflators, raising concerns about the company’s financial health. He wasn’t sure how many more years would be needed.
“They’re pitching in to the best of their ability, but even with their help, it’s going to be very hard to really ramp up production to cover this”, he said.
At least 10 deaths have been linked to the devices, which have inflated with too much force and sent shards of metal into the passenger compartment.
Takata has until the end of 2018 to recall cars that have air bags with such inflaters, and until the end of 2019 to recall faulty bags installed as part of earlier recalls.
“We are not satisfied with the recall rate”, he said. An NHTSA spokesperson said the recall was necessary “To protect the safety of all Americans”.
But the precise number of vehicles that will be affected by the new recall order isn’t certain. It is likely to be similar to the inflator figure, although some vehicles require replacements for driver-side and passenger-side air bags.
Takata must file new defect reports covering 35-40 million additional inflators by May 16 that will lead to automaker recalls. In the air bags being recalled, Takata didn’t use a chemical desiccant, a drying agent that can counteract the effects of moisture. The agency is trying to coordinate with all of the carmakers, plus three air-bag suppliers in addition to Takata, directing parts first to cars that pose the greatest risk.
The recalls will be conducted by affected auto makers in five phases starting this month, the agency said. Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal, of CT, and Edward Markey, of MA, called for all devices using ammonium nitrate to be replaced.
Six years is a conservative estimate, the officials said. Vehicles in Florida or Gulf Coast states are more at risk than in Washington, D.C., for example.
Two US senators said even the expanded recall may not be enough.
Investigators increasingly suspect that the chemical used to inflate Takata airbags can be unstable, especially in hot and humid conditions, and cause the inflator canister to rupture.
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Takata said it knows of no ruptures in the batch of inflators that have been added to the recalls, nor does it know of any new data “that suggests any substantial risk with respect to such vehicles”. “Takata is committed to supporting all actions that advance vehicle safety”.
