The global Takata air bag recall

The past number of weeks have brought us one of the biggest figures of recalled vehicles in recent history due to a fault with Takata air bags. A range of companies use these air bags in some of their models and thanks to this a vast number have been recalled affecting companies like Toyota,Mazda,Nissan,Lexus and Honda amongst many more. The problem was at first reported to be due to temperatures in humid conditions would cause the airbag to expand and in some cases explode shooting shrapnel into the face of the driver.

This has been one of the most serious issues in a vehicle as of late and the amount of vehicles being recalled over the matter is doubling. Fatalities have been reported due to the faulty airbags dating back to a number of months. This week has given us further expansions on the amount of cars recalled so here is a quick run down to keep you up to date.

Mazda double the number of Takata air bag recalls

The latest in the Takata developments have come to us from the Mazda brand today by stating that they are now doubling the amount of vehicles they are recalling due to this issue. The main focus on Mazda's recalls are affecting vehicles in the US. With the amount of models being doubled now, it is believed that around 87,000 models are to be recalled. The majority of Mazda recalls affect places including Florida, Puerto Rico,Hawaii and the Virgin Islands. Now that the company have announced a further recall, we now see areas like Texas,Alabama,Georgia and Missisipi affected also.

Toyota are the other brand to issue an expansion of their recalls for the same fault. The vehicles affected by Toyota's recall are mainly affected in both China and Japan. An extra 190,000 vehicles have been added to the count from Toyota.

This morning it was also announced that Honda have made a huge boost in vehicle recalls in Japan with 135,000. This news comes after the firm announced an expansion of their current recall in the US. 2.6 million vehicles in Japan have been affected by the Takata recalls so far spreading across all ranges of manufacturer.

The latest from Takata on the situation

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration yesterday asked Takata to expand their overall recall for more vehicles fitted with their airbags but Takata refused the request. Their official response to the NHTSA was that they did not have any oversight over the Takata brand as a car supplier. Due to this refusal, the NHTSA can now take action against Takata by fining them £4,460 every day for the time that an non recalled vehicle is still on the road.