Honda Motor stated on Tuesday it will recall 2.7 million older U.S. vehicles in North America for possibly faulty air bag inflators.
The defect concerns a different type of Takata inflator than those that have led the largest-ever auto safety recalls worldwide covering over 42 million U.S. vehicles by 19 automakers with Takata air bag inflators.
The new recall includes Honda and Acura automobiles from 1996 through 2003 model years. Honda stated it is aware of one field rupture of an inflator in the new recall campaign – a 2012 crash occurred in Texas that caused an injury – and two in junkyards in Japan.
The campaign includes 2.4 million U.S. vehicles and 300,000 in Canada, Honda said, adding that it has not figured recall numbers for other nations.
Takata released a new defect notice in November for inflators from four automakers, which included Honda.
Honda said all three vehicles potentially were exposed to unusually high amounts of moisture before the rupture events.
Honda said the recalls involve driver front airbag inflators produced with non-azide propellant and said all inspections and fixes will start in approximately one year, as replacement parts from alternative providers are not yet available.
Honda said it “regrets any inconvenience or distress” that these events may cause to customers in order to resolve this situation. Honda said it “believes that the risk of improper airbag deployment in its vehicles remains very low at this time, but we cannot absolutely guarantee the performance of any recalled part”.
