Continental Automotive Systems is recalling 5 million Honda, Fiat Chyrsler and other vehicles to replace air bag control units built over a five year period that may be defective, according to documents made public on Thursday.
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Affected Acura models include the 2013-2016 ILX, 2013-2014 ILX Hybrid, 2007-2016 RDX, 2005-2012 RL, 2009-2014 TL and 2010-2013 ZDX.
Its latest action indicates the continuing Takata recalls may not be over.
Until recently, Honda was Takata’s biggest client, and as a result, the automaker has been hit especially hard by the long, drawn-out Takata airbag recall.
The defect in these air bags is fatal for passengers, since they can rupture when deployed during an accident. About the defect leading to the recall of 5 million vehicles, Continental said that airbags affected by the flaw may deploy inadvertently or fail to deploy at all, because of possible corrosion of semiconductors inside the unit.
Honda has already recalled 364,787 Accord sedans from the 2008-2010 model years, and Fiat Chrysler announced Thursday it’s recalling 112,001 Dodge Journeys from 2009 and Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country minivans from 2008 and 2009.
The announcement comes in the middle of a crisis involving Takata Corp. air bag inflators, with approximately 24 million United States vehicles being recalled for the faulty airbag units, making it the largest automotive recall in United States history, according to The Washington Post.
Continental in regulatory filings said variations in the manufacturing process for a power-supply component can cause a semiconductor material to corrode and eventually cut electrical connections.
Moisture can get into the control units, causing the airbags to not deploy in a crash, Honda said. An investigation found a problem with the control unit that led to a design change in a semiconductor in 2008.
Analysts said the two air bag recalls are not comparable, especially because Continental has a smaller market share than Takata, and Continental’s recall affects far fewer vehicles. More than 126,000 Mercedes C-series released in 2008 and 2009 including 2010 GLK250 cars are also bound to be recalled from existing users. At this time, only a preliminary listing of the potential vehicle identification numbers (VIN) to be included in this recall is available. That number left out more than 500,000 vehicles sold by Honda’s luxury subsidiary, Acura.
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The fatality marked the ninth death attributed to the air bag inflators in the U.S. One death was also reported overseas.
