Toyota recalls 57,000 vehicles over dangerous air bags

Original Post By Phillip Oladunjoye  / Senior Correspondent (With Agency Reports)

Toyota Motor Corporation has said it would recall 57,000 vehicles globally to replace potentially deadly air bags.

The air bags, according to the auto maker, are made by Takata Corporation.

According to the report, Toyota’s action followed a recall by rival Honda Motor Company for the same problem two weeks ago after revelations of a fifth death, in Malaysia, linked to Takata’s air bag inflator, noting that more than 16 million vehicles have been recalled worldwide since 2008 over Takata’s air bag inflators, which can explode with too much force and spray metal fragments into the car.

Toyota said it is recalling some Vitz subcompacts, called Yaris in some markets, and RAV4 crossover models made between December 2002 and March 2004, explaining that about 40,000 are in Japan, 6,000 in Europe and the rest in other markets outside North America. Toyota said it was not aware of any injury or death related to the recall.

Meanwhile, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has given Takata until Tuesday to issue a nationwide recall, and could fine it up to $7,000 per vehicle if it doesn’t comply. The report noted that it remains unclear how many more vehicles that would add to the recall list, saying that it could be in the millions, affecting five automakers: Ford Motor Company, Honda, Chrysler Group LLC, Mazda Motor Corporation and BMW AG.

A transport ministry official in Japan said about 2.6 million vehicles have been recalled in Japan so far for Takata’s air bag inflators.

The report noted that Takata-related recalls are almost certain to balloon after U.S. safety regulators on Wednesday ordered the company to expand a regional recall of driver-side air bags to cover the entire United States, not just hot and humid areas where the air bag inflators are thought to become more volatile, but added that Takata has so far resisted expanding the recall, saying that could divert replacement parts away from the high-humidity regions that need them most.