Honda Recalls 2.2 Million More Airbags

It said in filings that it was instigating recalls involving 112,001 vehicles from Fiat Chrysler along with vehicles made by Volkswagen Group, Mazda, Kia, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz parent firm Daimler.

The company told the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that electronic systems built from 2006 through 2010 and used in 5 million vehicles may have a malfunction which could prevent the airbags from deploying or cause inadvertent inflation without warning.

Continental and some automakers knew of problems with airbag control units for years before the first recalls were ordered last fall, according to documents released by USA regulators. More than 126,000 Mercedes C-series released in 2008 and 2009 including 2010 GLK250 cars are also bound to be recalled from existing users.

A new restraint system will be installed for free, Honda said. Recalled vehicles will have their faulty airbag inflators removed and replaced with parts from an alternative supplier.

Logo of German tyre company Continental is pictured at the headquarters in Hanover, April 25, 2014.

Analysts said the two air bag recalls are not comparable, especially because Continental has a smaller market share than Takata, and Continental’s recall affects far fewer vehicles.

As a result, Honda said owners of affected vehicles will be alerted to the recall in an initial notification letter within 60 days. Previously the Takata airbag recall had pertained to older models, generally from model year 2008 and earlier.

The Japanese automaker said certain Acura and Honda vehicles from model years 2005-2016 are being recalled to replace Takata PSDI-5 driver-side inflators.

That comes amid Takata’s exploding airbag crisis. However, Honda notes that vehicle identification numbers associated with the expanded recall haven’t been confirmed, so you won’t be able to carry out VIN searches on those sites just yet.

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.

Takata is preparing to present a restructuring plan to automakers in early May that will include an agreement on the sharing of recall costs, people familiar with the matter said this week.