The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has doubled the Takata airbag recall in the US, announcing that between 35 million and 40 million additional inflators will be added.
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Today’s reports say that Takata is preparing to recall another 35 million air bag inflators, adding to the current nationwide recall of almost 30 million inflators.
The Takata case constitutes the largest ever safety recall in U.S. history, the NHTSA said.
It means the total number of inflators to be replaced will rise to up to 69 million, a huge task that the government expects will take until the end of 2019 to complete.
“The acceleration of this recall is based on scientific evidence and will protect all Americans from air bag inflators that may become unsafe”, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, whose department oversees NHTSA, said in the statement.
While some cars need two airbags replaced, many need only one. The safety agency previously gave Takata until the end of 2019 to prove that its remaining airbag inflators using ammonium nitrate are fundamentally safe, but now all Takata airbags using that propellant without a chemical drying agent must be recalled.
“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. Such degradation can cause the propellant to burn too quickly, rupturing the inflator module and sending shrapnel through the air bag and into the vehicle occupants.
“Defective Takata air bags have transformed a feature responsible for saving lives into one linked to numerous deaths and serious injuries in Minnesota and across the country”, Klobuchar said.
Automakers involved in the current recall of 28.8 million inflators have only been able to fix 28 percent of the cars involved after more than two years.
“We are not satisfied with the recall rate”, he said.
He urged vehicle owners to check SaferCar.gov for information about any open recalls. “The science now clearly shows that these inflators can become unsafe over time”. The expansion adds three manufacturers – Tesla, Jaguar-Land Rover and Fisker – to the 14 that already have vehicles in the recall. Those air bags contain a chemical desiccant that absorbs moisture. The number may increase to 75 million if it is limited to air bags without drying agents, according to Credit Suisse in a March 30 note. The revised Coordinated Remedy Program, to be announced this summer, will detail the updated vehicle prioritization schedule and the schedule by which manufacturers are required to procure sufficient supply of replacement parts to conduct the required recall repairs.
Takata uses ammonium nitrate to create an explosion that inflates air bags in a crash. But in response to questions, he said that NHTSA has no authority to order recall loaners for owners who don’t want to drive their cars. But as they age, the risk grows, especially in humid areas where temperatures frequently cycle from cool to hot. NHTSA Administrator Rosekind’s own family owns a vehicle with a Takata airbag that has yet to be repaired.
But Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, said the recalls still aren’t being done fast enough.
Valient hasn’t had time to forecast how long it might take to make millions more inflators, Upham said.
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A researcher hired by a coalition of automakers said in February that moisture seeping into Takata’s inflators was determined to be the reason the airbags may rupture.
