Honda recalls 4.4 lakh cars in Japan over air bag problem

In the latest sign that automakers are still struggling to understand the scope of the Takata air bag crisis, Honda Motor said on Wednesday that it would expand its recall by more than a third in North America.

In October, Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz USA unit recalled 126,000 C-class sedans from model years 2008 and 2009 and certain 2010 Mercedes GLK crossovers to address the issue.

The supplier said the air bags’ power-control units may corrode and interrupt electrical connections, causing the devices to either deploy inadvertently or fail to activate, according to filings to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Continental Automotive Systems has set in motion new recalls that could affect up to 5 million vehicles globally, the Associated Press reports.

The affected Honda models are the 2007-2011 CR-V, 2011-15 CR-Z, 2010-2014 Clarity, 2010-14 Insight, 2009-2013 Fit, 2013-2014 Fit EV, and 2007-2014 Ridgeline. Honda knows of two injuries related to the issue. Nine of the deaths were in vehicles made by Honda.

The Takata airbag debacle is still underway, but when it rains, it pours.

Just when you thought Honda is done with the Takata air bag issue, it announced another round of major vehicle recall.

With this new market action, a total of approximately 970,000 Honda and Acura vehicles in Canada, have been or are now subject to replacement of a Takata driver and/or passenger front airbag inflator.

Continental is now notify automakers who have the affected units installed in their vehicles. However, due to the huge amount of inflator parts needed, the automaker will not receive the parts until summer 2016.

He said: “Honda will contact all affected customers in the coming weeks”. It applies to all cars, regardless of status: “Our dealer agreements require fix of all recalls before vehicle sale for any new or used vehicle”. That number left out more than 500,000 vehicles sold by Honda’s luxury subsidiary, Acura. Repairs in other parts of the US will follow.

“Also, to be clear, it is possible that there may be some overlap with recall notices around airbags already being carried out”.

Through December, NHTSA had recalled 23 million potentially defective Takata inflators in about 19 million vehicles. All airbags nationwide will eventually be recalled.