Toyota issues recall for 1.6 mln cars over faulty airbags

Tokyo/Osaka: Toyota Motor Corp. reissued a recall for 1.6 million cars in Japan over Takata Corp. air bags, after a component that was deemed to be safe in a Nissan Motor Co. vehicle ended up injuring a passenger last month.

Affected vehicles include 2005-2014 Ford Mustang and 2005-2006 Ford GT models, for driver-side air bag inflators, as well as 2004-2006 Ford Ranger pickup trucks made in North America, for passenger-side airbag inflators.

This month, Toyota, Nissan and other major vehicle manufacturers said they would stop using ammonium nitrate inflators manufactured by Takata in new models. Rupturing Takata air bag inflators have killed eight motorists in Honda Motor Co. cars.

Per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”), around 19.2 million vehicles in the USA have faulty Takata airbag inflators.

Like before, it looks like these Takata airbags might be inflating with too much force, which results in shrapnel being flung through the vehicle when the bags inflate. It affects cars in Japan, Italy, Britain and Spain – there’s no numbers on that yet. Thus, the estimated number of flawed Takata airbag inflators in the US stands at around 23.4 million units.

The Tokyo-based corporation that has production hubs on four continents saw losses in the second quarter total 8.66 billion yen ($70 million), owing to its faulty air bags, and the automotive parts maker slashed its full-year net income forecast by 25 percent to 5 billion yen.