Air bag inflator recall to grow by 35 million to 40 million
WASHINGTON (AP) — Takata will recall another 35 million to 40 million air bag inflators, a stunning increase that will more than double what is already the largest automotive recall in American history, the federal government announced Wednesday.
The recall expansion would bring to as many as 69 million the total number of inflators to be replaced, a gargantuan task that the government predicts will take until the end of 2019 to complete.
The car and truck models included in the expanded recall and the total number of vehicles were not immediately released but will be posted on NHTSA's website in the coming weeks.
Most of the expansion is for front passenger air bags that were not part of previous recalls, said Mark Rosekind, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Air bag manufacturers have had trouble making enough replacement inflators, and automakers have had difficulty finding owners and persuading them to get cars repaired.
The government and an independent expert it hired reviewed three independent investigations and confirmed findings that the problem is caused by time, airborne moisture and temperature fluctuations that can degrade the ammonium nitrate, the agency said.
Even without the expansion, it would have taken until the end of 2017 for enough replacement parts to be manufactured, said Scott Upham, CEO of Valient Market Research in Philadelphia, which tracks air bag sales.