Detroit, Michigan - Five automakers have again widened recalls of cars and trucks with Takata airbags as the US Congress sets a hearing next week on the safety issue that has been linked to six deaths.
Takata last week complied with demands of US safety regulators and doubled the vehicles to be involved in air bag recalls to 53 million, making it the largest recall in history.
The air bags are at risk of exploding with too much force and spewing metal fragments inside the car, regulators say. All six deaths linked to the problem were in Hondas.
The recalls announced on Thursday by BMW, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, Honda and Mitsubishi are included in the figures issued last week by Takata and the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Automakers, regulators and Takata have yet to identify the root cause of the problem.
A hearing billed as an update on the Takata safety issue will be held next Tuesday afternoon by the US house subcommittee on commerce, manufacturing and trade.
Representative Fred Upton said on Thursday: “When an airbag - a device built to enhance motorist safety - is actually putting families in peril, we can't wait years for a fix.”
‘MISHANDLING’
US lawmakers have complained that both Takata and NHTSA were mishandling the airbag safety issue. NHTSA has tried to show its bite under new head Mark Rosekind, who took the helm in January.
Rosekind will appear before the subcommittee next week. The panel will also hear from Takata executive vice-president Kevin Kennedy, two leaders of automaker lobbying groups and the director of an independent testing organisation.
Fiat Chrysler on Thursday expanded its recalls of vehicles with Takata air bags to about 5.22 million worldwide, involving the 2003 to 2011 model years. About 4.5 million of those vehicles are in the United States. Most of the vehicles had been involved in previous recall campaigns, it said.
Ford widened its recall of vehicles with Takata air bags to 1.51 million vehicles globally, including 1.38 million in the United States - up from 543 031 before last week's announcements by NHTSA and Takata.
Honda expanded its recall of vehicles with Takata airbags by 350 000 in the United States and 340 000 in Japan; since 2008, Honda has recalled about 20 million vehicles worldwide with Takata airbags
BMW is widening US recalls of models with Takata airbags from to 140 696 to 420 661, while Mitsubishi has expanded its recall of vehicles with Takata airbags to 82 784 in the US market.
Reuters
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