Japanese carmakers forced to recall 3.4 million vehicles

Millions of vehicles are being pulled off the roads due to faulty passenger airbags.

Due to a defective part supplied by Takata Corp., a global manufacturer of automotive safety systems and products, a number of Japanese carmakers are being forced to pull their cars off the road. Within the front passenger bag inflator is a defective part which is crucial to airbag deployment. Although there are no current reports of injury, 3.4 million cars are due for recall and free replacement of the part.

The car manufacturers affected are Japanese firms Toyota, Honda Motors, Nissan and Mazda, companies that all use parts developed by Takata.

Toyota is the worst affected, now forced to recall 1.73 million cars, whereas Honda, Nissan and Mazda account for 1.13 million cars, 480,000 and 45,000 respectively.

Spokesperson for Toyota Ryo Sakai told the BBC that the company has received five incidents of the airbag inflator becoming ruptured -- which has the potential to cause severe injury if the bag ruptures while the driver is involved in a traffic accident. The other Japanese firms say that no incidents have been reported involving their vehicles.

Customers will be notified within the next 30 days of the recall.

Via: BBC

Image credit: Toyota

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