Continental says 5 million vehicles worldwide may have faulty air bags

Federal auto-safety regulators said in late January that they expected to add an additional 5 million vehicles of several automakers Takata air bag recalls, in part because they had identified a tenth death attributable to defective inflators.

Auto manufacturer Honda is recalling 2.2 million vehicles from their Honda and Acura lines because the Takata air bags used for the driver’s side can rupture when they deploy.

The Takata airbag debacle is still underway, but when it rains, it pours. The company will send vehicle owners a letter in coming weeks regarding the recall.

“Should an unrepaired vehicle result in any claim because of the required recall fix, the dealership will be exclusively responsible to the claimant, and will be required to defend and indemnify American Honda for any resulting claims”, Honda told dealers in a memo obtained by Automotive News.

On Wednesday, Honda also announced a recall of 364,787 vehicles worldwide for separate airbag issues.

Honda previously has recalled more than 6 million US vehicles since 2008 to replace defective Takata inflators. That number left out more than 500,000 vehicles sold by Honda’s luxury subsidiary, Acura.

In August 2015, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into airbags in 384,000 model year 2008 Honda Accords.

Fiat Chrysler said it is recalling 112,000 vehicles for the same issue, including the 2009 Dodge Journey, 2008-2009 Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country and 2009 Volkswagen Routan that it had assembled for the German automaker. The automaker estimates owners should be able to search to see if their VIN is under Takata recall on Honda and NHTSA websites around February 15.

CONSEQUENCE: If the air bag control unit fails, the air bags may not deploy in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of occupant injury. The company needs to better monitor potential safety defects, track data from incident reports and give quality-control personnel the ability to halt production, according to the panel, headed by former U.S. Transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner. Other manufacturers may be included, and according to Continental’s production dates, the recalls could involve model years between 2006 and 2011.

Blumenthal and Markey decried the use of the ammonium nitrate propellant as “the source of the problem with the faulty Takata airbags“, in a letter to President Obama.