Air Bag Recall for Millions of Cars

Six automakers, including Toyota, Honda and Nissan, are recalling nearly 3.4 million older-model vehicles worldwide because of defective air bags that can send shrapnel flying into the passenger compartment.

The recall mainly affects cars sold by Japanese automakers in North America, Europe and Japan. A small number of cars made by Germany’s BMW AG and General Motors Co. are also involved.

The front passenger air bags all were made by the same parts supplier, Japan’s Takata Corp. They have faulty inflator mechanisms that don’t route gas into the air bags. Instead, the high-pressure gas can launch plastic and metal parts from the air bags into the cars’ passenger areas. Takata says no one has been hurt, but there have been six incidents of the air bags deploying improperly on roadways.

The recall, announced Thursday in Japan, is so large because many automakers use common parts on multiple models to cut costs and simplify manufacturing. This approach was pioneered by Japanese automakers.

The recall will bring a great deal of unwelcome publicity for automakers, especially Toyota Motor Corp., said IHS Automotive analyst Paul Newton. The world’s top-selling car company is trying to rebuild a reputation for quality that was hurt by previous big recalls.

The air bag problem happened because of two human errors during production. A worker forgot to turn on the switch for a system weeding out defective products, and parts were improperly stored, which exposed them to humidity, according to Honda spokeswoman Akemi Ando.

The recall is Takata’s largest since 1995, when nine automakers had to repair faulty front seat belts in 9 million cars sold from 1986 through 1991.

This article appeared in print on page 1 of the April 12th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.