The Takata corporation expanded its recall to 33.8 million cars in the U.S. The Japanese automobile airbag supplier agreed to recall after pressure from regulators, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced on Tuesday.
A Takata subsidiary is responsible for the defective airbags, which are in various car models including those made by Honda, Toyota, General Motors, and Daimler AG trucks. The recall is the largest in American consumer history. The second largest recall in U.S. history was the recall of 31 million bottles of Tylenol. The process will take years and is very complex, say officials. The defective airbags make up some 14 percent of all 250 million automobiles in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have been pressuring Takata to make the recall. Six deaths and hundreds of injuries are tied to the defective airbags.
Takata admitted that the airbags have a chance of inflating with too much force, shooting metal or plastic parts like shrapnel. The company at first believed that the airbags had altered inflating force in Southern U.S. states because of the humidity. However, the recall announced on Tuesday is nationwide. It is unclear whether humidity is the only factor involved in the faulty deployment.
"It's fair to say this is probably the most complex consumer safety recall in U.S. history. This is a monumental effort, there is no doubt about it," said DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx. U.S. Transportation authorities have fined the company millions of dollars as a result of not meeting safety regulations on products.
The deaths related to the Takata bags may result in further penalties due to civil lawsuits against the company. The company agreed to allow further investigations and oversight into its affairs as it investigates the core cause behind the faulty deployments.
