Honda said it will recall an additional 2.23 million cars made since 2005, including some new models, such as the Acura ILX and CR-Z, made in 2015 and 2016.
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Honda will start repairing the inflators in the recalled vehicles in the summer of 2016 as necessary replacement parts will only be available then. Once replacement parts become available, Honda will provide a subsequent notification to owners which will include instructions to pursue fix at their local authorized dealer. The recall of Continental airbags comes on the heels of the massive Takata airbag recalls that have expanded to almost 34 million vehicles in the US alone and has led to the company being fined with a $200-million civil penalty.
Fortunately, there have been no reports of new airbag inflator ruptures as yet, but faulty Takata airbags are known to have caused several deaths worldwide.
The huge recall of deadly Takata airbags is expanding to include more recent auto models.
Honda also sent a notice to dealers ordering them to stop selling any affected cars that might be in their new or used auto inventories, according to a report in Automotive News. As such, the recall covers control units built between 2006 and 2011.
Cautioning that this recall affects “certain specific vehicles only” within the models and model years listed, Honda said in a statement Wednesday that particular vehicle identification numbers “to be included in this recall [have] not yet been determined”. Continental is also recalling 5 million vehicles worldwide, covering vehicles from Fiat Chrysler, Honda and others, for an issue with its airbag control units. A power supply component can corrode and cause the airbags to fail to deploy when they’re supposed to, or to go off when they aren’t needed, potentially causing an accident.
Automakers will replace the computers at no cost to owners, according to documents.
The U.S. safety investigation began in August after NHTSA found 19 complaints from drivers that air bags didn’t inflate in crashes of older Honda Accords.
The NHTSA has always been investigating issues related with air bag inflators.
The regulator said Continental will notify the vehicle manufacturers that installed the air bag control units into vehicles. Recalled vehicles will have their faulty airbag inflators removed and replaced with parts from an alternative supplier.
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It recalled another 269,000 similar models in Canada on Monday for the same issue.
