It’s been over a decade since the first known rupture of a Takata airbag, but safety regulators and automakers are still struggling to understand the extent of the problem. The company announced that 5.1 million U.S. vehicles have already been affected and recently reported an 11th death that may be linked to the defect. While most of the vehicles in previous recalls included older models, investigations are including newer models which could be subject to recall at a later date.
The newest recalls includes certain SDI driver-side air bag inflators manufactured from January 1, 2002 up through model year 2014 vehicles in certain Audi, Ford, Mazda, Sprinter and Volkswagen vehicles and certain PSDI-5 air bag inflators manufactured from January 1, 2003 through model year 2014 vehicles in certain Audi, BMW, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Saab, Toyota and Volkswagen vehicles.
Takata will be working with vehicle manufacturers to identify which vehicles the affected inflators were installed, either as original or replacement equipment during service. Additional vehicle recalls will likely be announced and will be supplied by the NHTSA as soon as possible. Owners wanting more information about the problem are asked to contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153).