Honda to Expand Recall of Vehicles with Defective Takata Air Bags

A power supply component can corrode and cause the airbags to fail to deploy when they’re supposed to, or to go off when they aren’t needed, potentially causing an accident.

Documents say Continental will notify automakers, who will recall cars dating to 2006.

On Thursday, Fiat Chrysler announced that it is recalling 112,000 2009 Dodge Journeys and 2008-09 Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country minivans for the same problem.

Mary Arraf, a spokeswoman for Continental, said the recall affects 1.5 million to 2 million cars in the United States.

Right now, 14 automakers have recalled around 25 million cars because of the defective Takata air bags.

Consistent with Takata’s earlier filings, the National Highway Traffic Safety Association says the driver’s-side airbag inflators can deploy with too much force and rupture, sending metal fragments into occupants. Three years after, two similar cases from Mercedes and Fiat Chrysler were reported.

NHTSA opened an investigation in August after receiving 19 reports of failed airbag control modules in the 2008 Accord. Replacement control modules will be available to Honda owners in the fall.

Honda also sent a notice to dealers ordering them to stop selling any affected cars that might be in their new or used vehicle inventories, according to a report in Automotive News.

Honda plans to replace all of these recalled inflators with new parts from an alternative supplier.

Defective Takata inflators have been linked to nine US deaths since 2004, all but one of them in older Honda vehicles.

Honda said in its dealer memo that it will recall the vehicles, but that replacement parts are unavailable and won’t be on hand until late summer.

Unrelated to the Takata airbag crisis, another major airbag recall is taking shape Continental Automotive Systems.

Recalled vehicles will have their airbags replaced. It’s the largest automotive recall in US history. If you suspect you auto may be affected, visit vinrcl.safercar.gov/vin/ and plug in you auto or truck’s Vehicle Identification Number, or VIN.

This is yet another airbag recall, but surprisingly, Takata isn’t involved.

Fewer than 2 million vehicles in the USA are affected, said Continental, a division of Germany-based Continental AG. The automaker suggests manufacturing variability could also play a role in the root cause.