Takata Corp.’s headaches just got worse after Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. recalled almost 3 million vehicles with faulty airbag inflator propellant. Honda recalled 2.03 million vehicles built between April 2000 and October 2002 around the world, 1.02 million in North America (Civic, CR-V, Odyssey and Element), 153,943 in Europe (Civic, Stream, Fit/Jazz and CR-V) and 668,582 in Japan.
Two deaths have been tied to faulty airbags, both of which happened in the United States in 2009. Honda said it is aware of 41 incidents of ruptured airbags. Mazda recalled 159,807 RX-8 and first-generation Mazda6 units globally, 14,794 in North America, 90,259 in Europe and 11,832 in Japan.
Nissan called back 755,000 units worldwide, 228,000 vehicles in North America (including the Infiniti FX35, Pathfinder and Cube) and 128,000 in Japan (including the X-Trail and Teanna).
The recent Takata-related recalls now bring the number of vehicles recalled globally over the issue in the past five years to almost 10 million. Honda, Nissan and Mazda said they will replace the faulty parts. Takata chief executive Shigehisa Takada and COO Stefan Stocker remarked that the supplier was cooperating with safety regulators and carmakers with regards to the issue.
The executives said in a statement that Takata will aim to further strengthen its quality control system and will work to prevent problems from happening again.
