Japanese automakers Honda, Nissan,
Toyota and Mazda are recalling around 3.4
million cars due to airbag defects.
Toyota ( TM ) said it was recalling 1.7 million
cars around the world, including some
popular Corolla, Matrix and Camry models.
Nissan recalled around 480,000 cars, while
Mazda added another 45,000.
Honda ( HMC), which is recalling more than
1.1 million autos, said the recall was
necessary to replace passenger front airbag
inflators.
"It is possible that the passenger front airbag
inflators in affected vehicles may deploy with
too much pressure, which may cause the
inflator casing to rupture and could result in
injury," the company said in a statement.
Most of the recalled cars appeared to be
from the 2001, 2002 and 2003 model years.
Honda said it was aware of one crash in
which a passenger front airbag casing had
ruptured after being deployed with too much
pressure. The automaker said it was not
aware of any injuries or deaths that may
have resulted from the defect.
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Toyota said it had reports of five airbag
malfunctions, but no injuries.
Toyota spokeswoman Shino Yamada said the
airbags in question were manufactured by
Takata Corp., a Japan-based supplier.
Takata shares declined sharply after the recall
was issued, at one point falling more than
15% before recovering to close down 9%.
The recall, while large, is not without
precedent. The United States alone has had
13 recalls of more than three million units,
according to a list maintained by the D.C.-
based Center for Auto Safety.
For Toyota, the recall is another blow to its
carefully cultivated reputation for quality.
The company announced in October a recall
of 7.43 million cars due to a power window
problem that posed a fire risk.
Toyota's largest recall came in 2009 and
2010, when more than 8 million units were
brought in for a potential problem involving
sticky accelerator pedals. In that case, dealers
were told to suspend sales of eight models,
and production of those models stopped
temporarily.
money.cnn.com/2013/04/11/news/toyota-honda-airbag-recall/?hpt=hp_t1