Eight automakers are recalling an additional 12 million vehicles in the United States to replace potentially faulty front passenger air bag inflators made by Takata Corp., the USA road safety regulator said Friday. In a statement today, Japan’s government announced that another 7 million vehicles with Takata inflators will be recalled in Japan over safety concerns.
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In the U.S., Honda Motor Co.is recalling 4.5 million vehicles, Fiat Chrysler is calling back 4.3 million cars, Toyota Motor Corp. declared the recall of 1.65 million vehicles, and Mazda Motor Corp.is recalling about 730,000 vehicles, Reuters reported.
A technician holds a recalled Takata air bag inflator.
Before this recent recall, the number of affected vehicles – which includes pickups, SUVs and cars built between 2002 and 2011 – was about 50 million worldwide.
Takata declared 14 million inflators defective in the first phase of its latest recall, and the Friday notice is largely included in that total. Seventeen automakers are adding 35 million-to-40 million inflators to what already was the largest auto recall in US history.
Takata is in talks with several investors regarding a financial bailout. Money-losing Japanese air bag maker Takata Corp. hired financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard Thursday, May 26 to help tackle financial problems and massive recalls.
The U.S. has been particularly hard-hit by the recalls, but isn’t the only nation affected.
Earlier this year, Takata confirmed that the recall would be on a much larger scale than previously expected, with the total cost expected to rise to 2.7 trillion yen (£16.7bn).
All of them have airbags made by Takata that can explode and shoot out metal.
As of March 2015, 52.1% of Takata shares were owned by TKJ, a Takada family investment vehicle, 2.9% by Chairman and CEO Shigehisa Takada, and 2.1% by his mother Akiko Takada.
Dealers had replaced 8.4 million airbags as of May 20, according to NHTSA.
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In November, the company agreed to pay a US$70-million fine for safety violations, and it faces an ongoing USA criminal investigation as well as several class-action lawsuits.
