If recalls are extended to desiccated inflators, the impact could reach 205 million total vehicles and 2.3 trillion yen in costs, Mr Nakanishi said.
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The Takata airbag scandal follows the more than decade-long cover-up by General Motors of a deadly ignition defect. It led her family to file a lawsuit against Takata, American Honda, and even inspectors who worked on her auto, who didn’t catch that its airbag was essentially a bomb just waiting to detonate. Last Wednesday, the agency ordered that 35-40 million additional inflators be recalled in phases, between May 2016 and December 2019. The company already agreed to pay at least $70 million in penalties and up to $200 million for failing to promptly fix the vehicles or report the defect.
“This agreement with NHTSA is consistent with our desire to work with regulators and our automaker customers to develop long-term, orderly solutions to these important safety issues”, Shigehisa Takada, Takata’s chairman and chief executive officer, said.
According to an industry chemist and expert on propellants, H.R. Blomquist, the fault comes from “moisture-sensitive propellant” and the inflator’s faulty design, which allows humid air to contaminate the system.
Yet he said the recalls were urgent and told people to get recalled vehicles fixed as soon as parts are available.
West said very few of the models he sells were affected by the recent recall. The recall in Europe is being taken as a precautionary measure.
“The older your airbag is, the more urgent it is to get it in the queue”, said Putzier.
One of Takata’s manufacturing facilities in Japan.
According to a post from Sirianni on the Observer-Reporter Facebook page, Sirianni brought his Honda CR-V to a dealership in March and has been driving a rental auto ever since.
The Takata situation has been “disruptive to the business” of selling vehicles, he added, considering AutoNation’s policy of not selling any vehicles with open recalls on them. There are also another 32 million airbag inflators with the drying agent not subject to recall.
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If the ammonium nitrate degrades substantially, it can cause the inflators to become over-pressurized and rupture during air bag deployment. Owners should input the car’s vehicle identification number, or VIN, which can be found on the title or registration card, in the owner’s manual or on the vehicle, often in the driver’s side door jamb.
