A huge recall is about to commence by the big four Japanese automobile makers of approximately 3.4 million vehicles due to defective airbags. All the airbags were purchased from the same manufacturer, Takata Corp, “the world’s second-largest supplier of airbags and seatbelts.” The reason for this recall by Honda, Toyota, Mazda and Nissan, is the airbags in the vehicles, most of which were manufactured between 2001 and 2003, are believed to be able to deploy with enough pressure and force (CNN News, Early Start, 4/11/13) to potentially cause injury or fire.
To date, none of the companies has been made aware of any deaths or injuries caused by the defect; however, the news media has noted this recall by the large Japanese car dealers is due to “an abundance of caution.” (www.CNN.com ) This will be the second largest recall of foreign automobile makers in the past ten years.
The cars recalled include Toyota’s Camry and Corolla, Nissan’s Maxima and Honda’s Civic. Takata Corp. also supplies airbags and seatbelts to Daimler AG (maker of Mercedes-Benz) and Ford Motor Co. Some non-Japanese car manufacturers also purchased the defective airbags, but the companies were not identified. (NBC News, 4/11/13). The airbags themselves were manufactured in Mexico by Takata from 2000-2002.
For more information on automobile recalls visit: http://www.nhtsa.gov
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