Now that automakers have identified all 33.8 million vehicles equipped with potential shrapnel-shooting Takata airbags, federal regulators are looking for ways to speed up the repair process. [More]
national highway traffic safety administration
NHTSA Considering Options To Speed Up Takata Airbag Replacement, Seeks Updated Recall Details
By 6.23.15
NHTSA Opens Yet Another Investigation Into Fiat Chrysler, This Time For 121K Dodge Darts For Possible Brake Issues
By 6.23.15
A week before Fiat Chrysler is schedule to answer for its perceived lackadaisical attitude toward 22 recalls, federal regulators announced they’ve opened a separate investigation into one of the car maker’s vehicles: the Dodge Dart. [More]
Another Report Finds NHTSA Failed To Hold Automakers Responsible For Defects, Other Issues
By 6.22.15
The hits keep on coming for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Less than a month after internal reports determined the agency failed to adequately address the General Motors ignition switch defect that has been linked to more than 100 deaths, an audit from the U.S. Department of Transportation identified a plethora of shortcomings within the auto-safety regulator’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) that prevent it from properly protecting consumers from vehicle defects. [More]
NHTSA Adds One Million More Fiat Chrysler Vehicles to Agenda For July Hearing
By 6.19.15
Just two weeks before federal regulators are scheduled to take Fiat Chrysler to task over its leisurely pace in addressing a plethora of recalls – including millions of Jeeps that can explode following low-speed rear-end collisions – the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it would add two additional cases to its review roster. [More]
Regulators Identify All Vehicles Recalled For Defective Takata Airbags
By 6.18.15
Consumers worried that they may be driving around with what some have likened to an explosive device in their steering wheel and dashboard can breathe a small sigh of relief, as federal regulators say all 33.8 million vehicles equipped with potential shrapnel-shooting Takata airbags have been identified. [More]
Toyota Adds Another 1.37M Vehicles To The Massive Takata Airbag Recall
By 6.16.15
Auto manufacturers continue to whittling down the number of unidentified vehicles equipped with potential shrapnel-shooting airbags a month after Japanese parts maker Takata deemed the safety devices defective. The latest round of expanded recalls goes to Toyota, which added another 1.37 million to its recall list. [More]
Honda Adds Another 1.39M Civics, Accords To Takata Recall List
By 6.16.15
Days after Honda confirmed the seventh death linked to defective Takata airbags that occurred in one of its vehicles, the automaker plans once again to expand the scope of its recall for cars equipped with the potentially shrapnel-shooting safety devices. Another 1.39 million popular cars are now on the list. [More]
How Recalls Work (And Don’t) And Why They’re All So Different
By 6.8.15
Manufacturers — of all kinds — usually try hard to get it right on the first try. From banana muffins to bicycle helmets, it’s in a company’s best interests to make their products perfect. Not only is it better for their reputation and their business, but it’s less expensive, in the long run, and causes less trouble. Sometimes, though, something just goes wrong. [More]
Reports Show NHTSA Failed At First To Properly Investigate GM’s Ignition Switch Defect
By 6.5.15
Recently released internal reports from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that for nearly a decade the agency did little to adequately address concerns regarding the deadly General Motors ignition switch defect. [More]
Mazda Adds 540,000 Vehicles To Takata Airbag Recall List
By 6.5.15
The roster of vehicles recalled for Takata-produced airbags found to spew pieces of shrapnel with enough force to injure or kill occupants continues to grow. This time, the list increased by nearly 540,000 Mazda automobiles. [More]
Takata Confirms It Will Replace About 400,000 Previously “Fixed” Airbags
By 6.4.15
Earlier this week Japanese auto part maker Takata announced it may have to call back some of the millions of airbags already replaced because they may still have a tendency to shoot shrapnel upon deployment. Today, the company released an estimated number of re-recalled airbags, to the tune of 400,000. [More]
Ford Adds 500,000 More Vehicles To Its Takata Airbag Recall Lineup
By 6.2.15
During the past week, automakers have scrambled to identify which of their models should be included in the recall of nearly 34 million vehicles equipped with Takata-produced airbags that can shoot pieces of shrapnel upon deployment. For Ford Motor Company the answer involves nearly 500,000 additional sports cars. [More]
Takata Plans To Stop Using Ammonium Nitrate, Phase Out Certain Airbag Inflators
By 6.1.15
A day before representatives from Japanese auto parts maker Takata are set to appear in front of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee to discuss the more than 34 million defective airbags linked to six deaths and more than a hundred injuries, the company announced it would stop using an often volatile chemical in its safety devices moving forward and call back some airbags replaced during earlier recalls. [More]
BMW, Honda & Fiat Chrysler Identify Some Additional Vehicles Affected By Expanded Takata Recall
By 5.28.15
Automakers began identifying which of their models are affected by the recently expanded Takata airbag recall Thursday, with Fiat Chrysler, BMW and Honda adding hundreds of thousands of vehicles to their already overflowing roster of cars in need of replacement safety devices. [More]
Could Takata’s Replacement Airbags Be Just As Dangerous?
By 5.27.15
Generally when consumers take their vehicles to a dealer for a recall remedy, they leave with the peace of mind that the potential safety issue has been fixed. That may not end up being the case for more than 34 million recently recalled vehicles equipped with Takata airbags, as the parts manufacturer, automakers and federal regulators struggle to determine why the safety devices have the tendency to spew pieces of shrapnel upon deployment. [More]
Ford Recalls Nearly 445K Vehicles For Power Steering Failure, Fuel Leak Issues
By 5.27.15
Ford Motor Company issued two new recalls Wednesday covering nearly 445,000 vehicles after receiving numerous complaint and incident reports, including at least four accidents related to loss of power steering and high underbody temperatures. [More]
NHTSA Once Again Flexes Regulatory Muscle Over GM, Manufacturers Who Used Takata
By 5.22.15
Since taking the helm of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in January, Mark Rosekind has made his intention to hold automakers responsible for safety issues well known. This week, the agency continued tightening the reins by extending oversight requirements imposed on General Motors stemming from its ignition switch defect and invoking its legal authority to speed up the recall process related to millions of vehicles recalled for Takata airbag defects. [More]
Takata Beefing Up Replacement Airbag Production, Again
By 5.20.15
Just as federal regulators caution that it could take years before the nearly 34 million recalled vehicles equipped with Takata airbags that can spew shrapnel upon deployment are replaced, the Japanese auto parts maker says it expects to speed up its output of replacement parts by year’s end. [More]
