TOKYO — Honda on Thursday recalled 4.9 million vehicles equipped with airbags made by the Japanese supplier Takata, a day after Toyota and Nissan announced similarly vast recalls.
The carmaker said it made the decision after conducting its own examination of airbag components from used vehicles, in collaboration with Takata. The tests “confirmed irregular internal pressure” in some inflaters.
The investigation has not been able to pinpoint the cause of the issue, Honda added. Honda said none of the cars recalled on Thursday had been sold in the United States.
It declined to give a country-by-country breakdown but said the largest number was in Japan. More than 35 million cars and trucks containing potentially dangerous Takata airbags have now been subject to recall notices.
Close to a third of the total was announced this week.The fresh wave of recalls adds to the challenge facing Takata and carmakers like Honda, its largest customer.
Manufacturers have been struggling to procure replacement parts and install them in a huge number of vehicles, many of which are still on the road.
Defective Takata airbag inflaters can burst apart violently when deployed, sending metal fragments into a car’s cabin. Six deaths and more than 100 injuries have been linked to the problem.
Honda said it was not aware of any injuries caused by airbag faults in the models involved in the latest recall, which includes popular models like the Civic, Accord and Fit.
All were from the 2002 to 2008 model years. Automakers have been searching for months for the cause of the inflater failures. In its recall notice on Wednesday, Toyota, which recalled just under five million vehicles, said an examination of inflaters gathered from used vehicles found that some were not airtight.
That could allow moisture to seep inside and destabilize the inflaters’ explosive chemical propellant. In Honda’s case, “the cause remains unclear,” the company said in its recall notice on Thursday.
“But we are replacing inflaters of the same type manufactured during a certain period as a precautionary measure,” the notice added.
Toyota and Nissan said they did not know of any injuries caused by faulty airbags in the vehicles they recalled on Wednesday, which were manufactured between 2003 and 2007. The carmakers described the recalls as “investigative” and “preventive.”
The authorities in the United States have complained that neither Takata nor its automaker clients are moving fast enough in solving the problem.
In April, Mark R. Rosekind, the administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said his agency was reviewing options to speed up the recalls. The agency is already fining Takata as much as $14,000 a day. Takata has said it is committed to cooperating with the safety agency.
Takata on Wednesday declined to comment on leak tests on its inflaters. In the past, it has said that any problems with the airbags were a result of manufacturing errors, not design flaws.
nytimes.com
The carmaker said it made the decision after conducting its own examination of airbag components from used vehicles, in collaboration with Takata. The tests “confirmed irregular internal pressure” in some inflaters.
The investigation has not been able to pinpoint the cause of the issue, Honda added. Honda said none of the cars recalled on Thursday had been sold in the United States.
It declined to give a country-by-country breakdown but said the largest number was in Japan. More than 35 million cars and trucks containing potentially dangerous Takata airbags have now been subject to recall notices.
Close to a third of the total was announced this week.The fresh wave of recalls adds to the challenge facing Takata and carmakers like Honda, its largest customer.
Manufacturers have been struggling to procure replacement parts and install them in a huge number of vehicles, many of which are still on the road.
Defective Takata airbag inflaters can burst apart violently when deployed, sending metal fragments into a car’s cabin. Six deaths and more than 100 injuries have been linked to the problem.
Honda said it was not aware of any injuries caused by airbag faults in the models involved in the latest recall, which includes popular models like the Civic, Accord and Fit.
All were from the 2002 to 2008 model years. Automakers have been searching for months for the cause of the inflater failures. In its recall notice on Wednesday, Toyota, which recalled just under five million vehicles, said an examination of inflaters gathered from used vehicles found that some were not airtight.
That could allow moisture to seep inside and destabilize the inflaters’ explosive chemical propellant. In Honda’s case, “the cause remains unclear,” the company said in its recall notice on Thursday.
“But we are replacing inflaters of the same type manufactured during a certain period as a precautionary measure,” the notice added.
Toyota and Nissan said they did not know of any injuries caused by faulty airbags in the vehicles they recalled on Wednesday, which were manufactured between 2003 and 2007. The carmakers described the recalls as “investigative” and “preventive.”
The authorities in the United States have complained that neither Takata nor its automaker clients are moving fast enough in solving the problem.
In April, Mark R. Rosekind, the administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said his agency was reviewing options to speed up the recalls. The agency is already fining Takata as much as $14,000 a day. Takata has said it is committed to cooperating with the safety agency.
Takata on Wednesday declined to comment on leak tests on its inflaters. In the past, it has said that any problems with the airbags were a result of manufacturing errors, not design flaws.
nytimes.com
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