The Department of Transportation on Wednesday announced the recall of an additional 35 million to 40 million faulty air bag inflators made by Japan’s Takata Corp., an auto-parts supplier.
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Under the Amended Consent Order issued to Takata this week, the company is required to make a series of safety defect decisions that will support vehicle manufacturer recall campaigns of an additional estimated 35-40 million inflators, adding to the already 28.8 million inflators previously recalled.
Japanese manufacturer Takata is recalling 35-40 million more airbag inflators in the United States, more than doubling what is already the largest recall ever in America’s vehicle industry.
American regulators see moisture-affected ammonium nitrate as the culprit in risky explosions of air bag inflators and have been asking Takata since November to establish that the compound is safe. Rosekind said this expansion of the initial recall in November was ordered by NHTSA after its analysis of three investigations, including one by a coalition of 10 affected automakers who determined that the “root cause” of the inflator failures is a combination of age and exposure to prolonged heat and humidity.
Takata is already is responsible for replacing 29 million faulty inflators already involved with the largest recall campaign in US history.
“This is the largest recall in American history”, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Administrator Mark Rosekind told reporters Wednesday afternoon. And on Wednesday, Honda said that two people in Malaysia died in recent traffic crashes in which Takata air bag inflators exploded with too much force, but authorities have yet to determine the exact cause of either death. Automakers also face difficulty in contacting owners and getting them to take cars to dealers for repairs. The expansion of recalls in the USA also adds to the costs that the supplier must bear even as it seeks a financial lifeline to survive. The action will include all air-bag inflators that don’t have a desiccant to reduce moisture, a factor thought to contribute to misfires that spray bits of metal into the passenger compartment.
Last year, NHTSA imposed the largest civil penalty in its history on Takata for violations of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act. NHTSA and the affected automakers are committed to a 100-percent completion rate with this recall.
The latest death confirmed to be linked to Takata was in Texas, where a 17-year-old girl was killed after being in a relatively minor crash in her family’s 2002 Honda Civic.
The recall applies to frontal air bags, on the driver or passenger sides in vehicles made by 14 different manufacturers.
Takata plunged by the most in a month on Monday after the Nikkei newspaper reported that USA regulators planned to expand the recall.
Front and side Takata air bags are installed in a wide range of cars made by 14 USA and foreign auto makers. “All vehicle owners should regularly check SaferCar.gov for information about any open safety recall on their vehicle and what they can do to have it fixed free of charge”.
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The Japanese firm is the world’s largest manufacturer of air bags, and replacements are in such short supply that many US drivers who have received recall notices are being told it will take weeks or months before their vehicles can be repaired.
