Toyota, Nissan to recall 3m more cars over airbags

AFP, TOKYO: Toyota and Nissan, Japan’s two top automakers, yesterday expanded their global car recall by more than three million vehicles to replace potentially deadly airbags that have already been linked to eight deaths.
Toyota said it will call back an additional 2.86 million vehicles “equipped with certain front passenger airbag inflators” worldwide, while Nissan said it would recall 198,000 units.
Smaller rival Japanese automaker Mitsubishi also said yesterday it would recall 120,000 vehicles. Faulty airbags made by Takata have been linked to several deadly accidents, forcing carmakers to recall tens of millions of vehicles and opening the Japanese autoparts maker up to a public inquiry by US lawmakers.
Takata chairman and CEO Shigehisa Takada yesterday apologised for the crisis in his first public appearance since it began.
“I send my deepest condolence to those who died and were injured in accidents due to our company’s inflator,” he said at a news conference in Tokyo.  “I also apologise for all of those affected by (the recalls).”
Takada said studies by his firm and outside labs suggest that humidity and climate are associated with the airbags’ malfunctions. “We are very sorry. We are doing our best to learn the cause of the problem,” he said.
Tokyo-based Takata last month agreed to double a US recall to a record of more than 30 million vehicles made by some of the world’s biggest automakers.
Before Thursday, Toyota had said 12.66 million of its units have been affected, although Honda, Japan’s number three automaker, has been the hardest hit, with more than 19 million recalled.
The defect—thought to be linked to a chemical propellant that helps inflate the airbags—can cause them to deploy with explosive force, sending metal shrapnel hurtling toward drivers and passengers.

Toyota, Nissan to recall 3m more cars over airbags

AFP, TOKYO: Toyota and Nissan, Japans two top automakers, yesterday expanded their global car recall by more than three million vehicles to replace potentially deadly airbags that have already been linked to eight deaths. Toyota said it will call back an additional 2.86 million vehicles equipped with certain front passenger airbag inflators worldwide, while Nissan said it would recall 198,000 units. Smaller rival Japanese automaker Mitsubishi also said yesterday it would recall 120,000 vehicles. Faulty airbags made by Takata have been linked to several deadly accidents, forcing carmakers to recall tens of millions of vehicles and opening the Japanese autoparts maker up to a public inquiry by US lawmakers. Takata chairman and CEO Shigehisa Takada yesterday apologised for the crisis in his first public appearance since it began. I send my deepest condolence to those who died and were injured in accidents due to our companys inflator, he said at a news conference in Tokyo. I also apologise for all of those affected by (the recalls). Takada said studies by his firm and outside labs suggest that humidity and climate are associated with the airbags malfunctions. We are very sorry. We are doing our best to learn the cause of the problem, he said. Tokyo-based Takata last month agreed to double a US recall to a record of more than 30 million vehicles made by some of the worlds biggest automakers. Before Thursday, Toyota had said 12.66 million of its units have been affected, although Honda, Japans number three automaker, has been the hardest hit, with more than 19 million recalled. The defectthought to be linked to a chemical propellant that helps inflate the airbagscan cause them to deploy with explosive force, sending metal shrapnel hurtling toward drivers and passengers.