The death last month of a Texas driver has been ruled to be the tenth in the U.S. — eleventh worldwide — related to the massive recall of Takata airbags that can shoot shrapnel at drivers and passengers upon deployment. [More]
safety defect
Toyota Recalls Nearly 200,000 More Vehicles Equipped With Takata Airbags
By 3.2.16
The often criticized piecemeal approach to recalling vehicles equipped with shrapnel-shooting Takata airbags continued today as Toyota announced the recall of nearly 200,000 cars in the U.S. [More]
Honda Recalls 1.7M Additional Cars Over Takata Airbag Defect; Reminds Dealers Not To Sell Them
By 2.3.16
Honda warned dealers this week that they could be held liable if they sell a vehicle equipped with unrepaired Takata airbags and it explodes, injuring a passenger or driver in an accident. The warning comes as the carmaker issued a stop-sale for and once again expanded — by 1.7 million — the number of its vehicles affected by the ongoing safety device defect. [More]
2015 Was Another Record Year For Vehicle Recalls
By 1.22.16
Shortly after taking over as head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Mark Rosekind warned carmakers, consumers, and anyone who would listen that 2015 could see more recalls than the recallapalooza that was 2014. Fast forward 12 months, and his prediction has become a reality. [More]
Proposed Keyless Ignition Alert Rule May Have Prevented Carbon Monoxide Deaths
By 9.8.15
A recently filed lawsuit alleges that 10 automakers concealed the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning in more than five million vehicles with keyless ignitions, resulting in 13 deaths. Meanwhile, a federal regulator’s four-year-old proposal for an alert that could have saved some lives continues to go unimplemented. [More]
Toyota Reportedly Set To Buy 13 Million Airbag Inflators From Takata’s Rival
By 8.21.15
Automakers have struggled in recent months to get their hands on enough new parts to replace millions of defective Takata airbags. To make matters worse, the Japanese auto parts maker at the center of the massive safety issue has re-recalled hundreds of thousands of replacement parts in recent months because the devices could still harm drivers and their passengers upon deployment. To reduce these risks, Toyota is reportedly looking to purchase millions of new airbag inflators from a rival of Takata. [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]
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]
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]
34 Million Takata Airbags Declared Defective, More Recalls To Come
By 5.19.15
After months of resisting federal regulators’ push for a national recall of vehicles containing defective Takata-produced airbags that could spew shrapnel when deployed, the Japanese auto parts maker announced today that it has declared an estimated 34 million vehicles defective because of the potentially deadly safety devices. The declaration is the first step in what will likely be the county’s largest recall of a consumer product. [More]
NHTSA Investigating Nissan Vehicle Issue That Can Result In Blown Tires, Brake Failure
By 5.19.15
Suffering a tire blowout while driving down the highway is never a welcome experience, but imagine if you found out that the tire blew, not because of debris on the roadway, but as a result of a manufacturing defect with your vehicle? It’s for that reason more than 130,000 Nissan Versa vehicles are now under investigation by federal regulators. [More]
Toyota, Nissan Add 6.5 Million Vehicles To Takata Airbag Recall; Honda Expected To Follow Suit
By 5.13.15
Just when you think carmakers have recalled the last of the vehicles equipped with Takata airbags that could spew shrapnel when deployed, more cars are added to that list. Today, Toyota and Nissan expanded their already massive recalls to include an additional 6.5 million vehicles, while Honda has plans to do the same. [More]
Ford Expands Door Latch Recall To Include 156,000 Additional Fiesta, Fusion & Lincoln Vehicles
By 5.1.15
Less than a week after Ford finally issued a recall for nearly 400,000 vehicles that may contain malfunctioning door latches, the car manufacturer is adding another 156,000 of the same vehicles to the recall roster. [More]
Regulators Gearing Up To Take Action On Slow-Moving Takata, Jeep Recall Fixes
By 4.29.15
After months of expressing concern over the slow-moving pace automobile and parts manufacturers have taken to remedy defects associated with nearly 1.5 million Jeeps that can explode following low-speed rear-end collisions and more than 25 million vehicles equipped with defective, shrapnel-shooting airbags, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is poised to take aggressive action to better ensure the safety of owners of those vehicles. [More]
