Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda are recalling cars to fix a
problem with how the air bags inflate. No injuries or deaths have
been reported because of the problem.
Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda are recalling 3.4 million
vehicles worldwide for air bag problems, the automakers announced in
Japan.
In a statement, Honda said it was not aware of any injuries
related to the defect, involving passenger-side air bags.
But previously, Honda had acknowledged that it was aware of 18
injuries and two deaths linked to driver-side air bags that had
deployed with too much force, sending shards of metal into the
drivers.
The recalls announced in Tokyo on Thursday include about 1.73
million Toyotas, 1.14 million Hondas, 480,000 Nissans and 45,000
Mazdas.
The air bags involved in all four recalls were manufactured by
Takata, whose headquarters are in Tokyo.
In the United States, Honda said it was recalling about 561,000
of its most popular vehicles because the passenger-side air bag
could deploy with too much force, the same problem for which the
automaker has recalled the driver's air bag on almost two million
vehicles since 2008.
Chris Martin, a Honda spokesman, wrote in an e-mail that the
passenger-side air bag deployed differently.
Instead of sending metal fragments directly at the driver, it
"could propel metal fragments upward toward the windshield or
downward toward the front passenger's footwell."
Fixing the problem will involve exchanging faulty inflators on
the air bags for new ones, a job that is expected to take one to two-
and-a-half hours for most models.
Takata supplies air bags and seat belts to major automakers
outside Japan, including Daimler and Ford Motor, as well as to the
Japanese brands.
A Takata spokesman, Hideyuki Matsumoto, said the defect had been
caused by problems in the manufacturing process, Reuters reported.
In a statement, Toyota said it was still investigating about
510,000 vehicles that "may have to be inspected to locate the
suspect inflaters."
Press officers for Mazda and Nissan could not immediately be
reached for comment.
The recall, which is the biggest since Toyota pulled back more
than seven million vehicles in October because of problems with a
window power switch, underscores the risk of global supply chains as
automakers increasingly rely on a handful of suppliers for common or
similar parts to cut costs, Reuters reported.
