Germany’s three largest automakers are recalling 2.5 million vehicles (around 850,000 each) in the US over a long-running safety crisis involving airbags supplied by Japan’s Takata Corporation.
The recalls mark the latest expansion of a safety crisis over defective Takata air bags that began in 2009 and has involved the recall of some 24 million vehicles fitted with 28 million Takata inflators.
Despite the recalls, the three German companies have made it clear that they are not aware of any air bag failures in their vehicles.
The most recent recalls were prompted instead by the death of the driver of a Ford Ranger pickup December, as well as new tests conducted on suspected faulty air bags.
In total, ten deaths worldwide and nine in the United States have been linked to Takata’s air bag inflators, all but one involving Honda models.
