Several Mazda models recalled to fix Takata airbag issues

25 Feb 2019

Mazda Motor Corporation on Friday, announced that it would recall 374,000 Mazda vehicles in the United States, to fix faulty Takata airbags. The Japanese automaker said that Takata testing found additional airbags prone to rupture.

In the event of crashes, the defective propellant devices and inflator might not deploy properly, which could send metal fragments flying throughout the cabin. The recall includes certain model year 2003-2008 Mazda6 vehicles: manufactured May 29, 2002 to May 5, 2008; a limited edition of model year 2004 RX-8 vehicles: manufactured June 25, 2003 to June 30, 2003; and a 2006-2007 Mazdaspeed6 vehicles: manufactured July 1, 2005 to June 29, 2007.

About 34 million vehicles are affected in the U.S, while another seven million vehicles across the world. Last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced the eight US fatality caused by faulty Takata airbag and the 9th worldwide. More than 100 injuries have been linked to the issue. According to federal data, the issue affects 12 vehicle manufacturers, about 19 million vehicles and more than 23 million inflators.

Though Takata announced the fault in April 2013 in six makes, it remained unaware of which cars involved defective inflators and the cause of the issue. In July, the company recalled vehicles in areas of high-humidity including U.S. Virgin Islands, Hawaii and Florida, to remove the parts and sending them to Takata for review. In November, Takata had to pay  a penalty of $70 million for safety violations and could face $130 million penalty under NHTSA settlement. Last month, NHTSA said that Honda, Subaru and Mazda would add more vehicles to the recall campaigns on the basis of inflator testing.

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