Airbag manufacturer faces record fines as expanded recalls take in newer models, more brands.
Since its emergence as an auto safety issue in 2004, the problem with rupturing Takata airbags has continued to escalate. Now, Takata’s longtime partner Honda is expanding its North American recall by more than a third in response.
Honda already has recalled some 8.51 million Honda and Acura vehicles because of the problem, which came to light in 2004 when a defective airbag ruptured in a 2002 Honda Accord. When they deploy, the airbags can rupture and may send shrapnel into the driver’s face and neck. So far, this has caused at least 10 deaths (nine in the U.S.) and more than 100 injuries.
The defective airbags have led to more than 20 million cars being recalled in one of the largest recall programs ever. Other companies have been affected as well. So far, 28 million inflators (the mechanisms activating the airbags) in 24 million vehicles have been recalled by 14 automakers.
When the problem first emerged, manufacturers considered the issue an anomaly, and it went unreported. It wasn’t until 2008 that Honda issued the first related recall, for 4,000 vehicles.
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As far back as 2000, Takata is said to have manipulated results of tests designed to show that the inflators complied with automakers’ design specifications.
This expanded recall by Honda comes a month after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) announced that 5 million more vehicles equipped with the defective airbags needed to be recalled.
While the cars that had been part of the earlier recall were older vehicles – no later than 2008 models – the NHTSA’s latest action warns that cars with more recent airbags might also be subject to explosion. It originally was believed that the material used to make the airbags went bad after eight or 10 years, causing them to explode. But more recent evidence has shown a design flaw in the material used to inflate the airbags that’s at fault.
NHTSA also extended the recalls to two previously unaffected automakers, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz.
Honda dropped Takata as a supplier of airbags in November, although it still uses the company for other safety equipment such as seat belts. Their move followed a $70 million penalty levied against Takata by the NHTSA over the airbags. That penalty could grow by another $170 million – a record civil punishment for the auto industry – if the supplier fails to live up to the agency’s consent order.
