US Expands Takata Air Bag Probe After Explosion in Brand New VW

“I’m very sure that the propellant is the problem”, Jochen Siebert, managing director at JSC Automotive Consulting, said by phone.

The use of ammonium nitrate appears to be one of many contributing factors to air bag malfunctions, Kevin Kennedy, Takata’s executive vice president for North America, told a House committee in June. The two companies are ongoing customers, Takata said in a letter last month to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Data is still compiled by Takata on any air bags it supplied to automakers that incorporated them in vehicles produced outside US and then imported them later.

A person familiar with the continuing NHTSA probe of Takata air bags said there wasn’t yet evidence to link the incident to the other recalls, which involve different air-bag inflaters.

A June collision between a Volkswagen SUV and a deer in which a side air bag inflated with too much force has triggered a federal investigation and raised questions about the safety of newer air bags made by Takata Corp. of Japan. The Detroit News earlier reported on the special orders.

Although the Tiguan problem could be an isolated manufacturing problem, Brauer says with Takata’s history, it’s possible that more recalls involving more vehicle brands are coming.

VW is not among the 11 automakers that have recalled vehicles with Takata air bags. About 33 million vehicles have been recalled in the U.S., and the devices are linked to eight deaths and 130 injuries. A Takata spokesman, Jared Levy, said the company is investigating the incident and cooperating with NHTSA. Takata says it doesn’t believe the case is related to previous incidents.

Gillies said there have been no other incidents of air bag inflators rupturing in VW vehicles.

All the recalled vehicles within the purview of recall are found to be at least five years old and majority were manufactured between 2000 and 2007. NHTSA ordered Takata to identify all air bags made with inflators containing ammonium nitrate.

Safety regulators will determine if the explosive chemical used in the VW airbag might have been affected by heat or moisture in the hot Missouri weather.