Honda will be issuing a recall for an additional 668,000 units of Honda vehicles in Japan for replacement of airbag inflators supplied by Takata. The latest recall involves the Fit subcompact hatchback model, and the Civic and Accord sedan models produced between 2009 and 2011.
This recall is part of an expanded nationwide recall announced earlier this year and the latest announcement takes Honda’s global tally of recalled airbags to about 51 million, around half of the roughly 100 million slated for recall worldwide over inflators which are at risk of exploding with excessive force.
To date, defective airbags have been linked to at least 14 deaths and 150 injuries worldwide and it is the automotive industry’s biggest product recall ever.
Without a drying agent, the ammonium nitrate-based propellant used in Takata inflators has a tendency to explode violently following prolonged exposure to hot, humid conditions, spraying metal shrapnel into vehicle compartments. It is not the best way to get injured this way so it is best that vehicle owners affected by this recall get their airbag fix right away.
Honda, who were once Takata’s biggest customer, has said that it would stop using Takata-made inflators in its new models, and has stopped procuring replacement inflators from the company.
Source: Automotive News
