The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has ordered Ford to issue a recall for an annoying minor problem that could potentially affect three million of its US cars: the Takata airbag inflators could rupture, leaving deadly metal fragments can fly in passengers. It is estimated to have an impact on approximately $ 610 million in machines.
This defect has “led to the largest car recall in US history”, Reuters reports, with 67 million individual inflators in 2.7 million US vehicles being recalled. For any given perspective, there have been only (“only”) 100 million recalls by 19 different car manufacturers worldwide.
And yes, Ford has protested that it has not found enough evidence to carry out a recall, but “will respect the NHTSA’s decision and file a recall.” The company also announced that it is looking at a loss of $ 1.2 billion from this recall alone.
That said, it’s Takata’s problem linked in the United States alone, up to 18 deaths. In one case, a driver was killed in a car accident after his air bag ruptured and then set on fire. In addition to the deaths, 400 drivers or passengers have been injured as a result of these airbag failures, leaving some blinded or maimed. It seems to be a good reason to issue a recall without complaint.
Here are the cars being recalled, from CNN:
- 2007 to 2011 Ford Ranger
- 2006 to 2012 Ford Fusion
- 2006 to 2012 Lincoln Zephyr
- Ford Edge from 2007 to 2010
- Lincoln MKX from 2007 to 2010
In addition, Mazda had to recall 5,800 airbag inflators in its B-series pickups from 2007-2009. The NHTSA also rejected a petition from General Motors asking for exemption from the recall of seven million vehicles with Takata airbags.
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Ford spokesman Monique Brentley noted that “unlike other Takata passenger side airbag components that have been previously recalled, these driver side airbags have a moisture-absorbing [material] and perform differently. ”
However, the NHTSA rejected any evidence submitted by Ford on the assumption that these airbags deteriorate over time. It eventually concluded that “what Ford is presenting here, while valuable and informative in some ways, has far too many shortcomings.”
You can enter your VIN number on it NHTSA website to see if your car is listed in the recalls.