Honda will recall an additional 20 million Takata-made airbags globally, reports a Japanese newspaper, Nikkei.
Last week, Honda announced two deaths have been possibly linked to the faulty Takata-made airbags in Malaysia. There are at least 10 more deaths which have been reported linked to the devices in U.S.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has ordered Takata to recall between 35-40 million more airbags fitted in Honda cars in the U.S., adding to the already 28.8 million inflators previously recalled by the company.
The recall expansions mean that all Takata ammonium nitrate-based propellant driver and passenger frontal air bag inflators without a chemical drying agent, also known as a desiccant, are all involved in the recall.
According to NHTSA, a combination of time, environmental moisture and fluctuating high temperatures contribute to the degradation of the ammonium nitrate propellant in the inflators. 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.
Following the biggest auto recall in the U.S history, the Japanese company now plans to widen areas for the recall to Oceania, Asia, Latin America and Europe, which will result the automaker to recall another 20 million airbags or more globally, bringing the total number to more than 50 million, the Nikkei said.
According to Nikkei, this will probably cost the company about 200 billion yen ($1.87 billion), adding that the latest move by the largest buyer of Takata airbags may prompt other automakers to follow suit.
Source: Bloomberg
