Previous Story
Feds Investigate Rupture Of Takata Air Bag In 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan
Posted On Aug 20 2015
Comment: Off
Takata is still collecting data on any air bags the company supplied to carmakers that installed them in vehicles manufactured outside the U.S. The company will pass on that information to NHTSA when it’s ready, according to the letter. The air bag of the vehicle ruptured after the driver struck a deer, according to Mark Gillies, a spokesman for Volkswagen.
Already suffering the effects of the world’s largest recall, Japanese airbag maker Takata is now facing new concerns about a 2011 airbag deployed in a US-based accident of a Volkswagen. Worldwide, 11 automakers have recalled about 57.5 million vehicles with Takata air bags.
Takata has denied that the Tiguan incident is linked to earlier explosions that sent shrapnel into passenger compartments causing deaths and injuries, but that explanation isn’t being well-received by Blumenthal and Markey, as they make clear in a letter, to Takata.
Jared Levy, a spokesman for Takata, said that the company is involved with the NHTSA in the investigation of the incident, with Levy adding that it is believed to be unrelated to the previously issued recalls.
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. Gillies said there have been no other incidents of air bag inflators rupturing in VWvehicles. But the chemical can become unstable when exposed to airborne moisture, burning too fast and blowing apart a metal canister designed to contain the explosion.
In its orders to VW and Takata, NHTSA is looking to see if the problem is broader than the previous recalls.
The investigation could revolve around airbags that use ammonium nitrate as a propellant to inflate the bags.
The NHTSA requested a list from Volkswagen for all its vehicles that utilize ammonium nitrate in their air bags. It also asks for failure rates of all side air bags in tests done by the company or third parties.
