Honda and Acura Recall

Continental Automotive Systems said that 5 million cars worldwide are fitted with potentially faulty air bags.

The recall brings to about 24 million the number of vehicles recalled in the USA due to Takata inflator problems that have caused at least 11 deaths and 139 injuries worldwide. The parts supplier continued to investigate the issue, learning of two vehicles, one a Fiat Chrysler and the other a Mercedes, where the airbags deployed randomly.

The defect with the air bag is with its inflater, which is a metal casing having explosives inside that assist in helping inflate the air bag during an accident.

A deployed Takata air bag is shown in a 2001 Honda Accord.

On Thursday, Fiat Chrysler announced the recall of 112,000 2009 Dodge Journeys and 2008 and 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country minivans for the same problem.

The recalls also include vehicles made by Volkswagen AG, Mazda Motor Corp, Kia Motors Corp, Volvo AB and Daimler AG.

Honda said that it is recalling 341,000 Accord models made from 2008 to 2010 to replace control units associated with the defective Continental air bag systems.

The recent death of a SC man highlighted the risks posed by cars that contain Takata air bags, but have not been recalled.

Continental says any malfunction will cause the air bag control computer to shut down, and that will trigger a dashboard warning light. Once replacement parts become available, Honda will provide a subsequent notification to owners which will include instructions to pursue fix at their local authorized dealer.

It recalled another 269,000 similar models in Canada on Monday for the same issue. “While about 28 million of these inflators have been recalled to date through vehicle recalls, a staggering 26 million remain in vehicles not yet recalled”.

This isn’t Honda’s first recall rodeo when it comes to Takata.

The larger problem involves a wide range of Honda products equipped with faulty Takata airbags. Until the vehicles are identified, customers won’t be able to use Honda’s and NHTSA’s online databases to check their vehicle identification numbers for the recall.

Honda spokesman Chris Martin confirmed it told dealers it was recalling an estimated 1.7 million Honda brand vehicles.

One key takeaway from their announcement: the inflators will be replaced with parts manufactured by an alternative supplier, with repairs anticipated to begin this summer. “We will continue to take action as we deem appropriate”.