Congress Sets Hearing on Takata, Automakers Expand Recalls
Five automakers on Thursday widened recalls of cars and trucks with Takata Corp air bags and the U.S. Congress set a hearing next week on the safety issue that has been linked to six deaths, reported Reuters. Takata last week complied with demands of U.S. safety regulators and doubled the vehicles to be involved in air ... Read More »
Five automakers on Thursday widened recalls of cars and trucks with Takata Corp air bags and the U.S. Congress set a hearing next week on the safety issue that has been linked to six deaths, reported Reuters.
Takata last week complied with demands of U.S. safety regulators and doubled the vehicles to be involved in air bag recalls to 34 million, making it the largest recall in American history. The total number globally is more than 53 million vehicles.
The air bags are at risk of exploding with too much force and spewing metal fragments inside the car, regulators say. All six deaths linked to the problem were in Honda Motor Co Ltd vehicles.
The recalls announced on Thursday by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Honda, BMW, Ford Motor Co and Mitsubishi Motors Corp are included in the figures issued last week by Takata and U.S. regulator the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Automakers, regulators and Takata have yet to identify the root cause of the problem.
A hearing billed as an update on the Takata safety issue will be held next Tuesday afternoon by the U.S. House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade.
U.S. Representative Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican, said on Thursday: “When an air bag – a device built to enhance motorist safety – is actually putting families in peril, we can’t wait years for a fix.”
U.S. lawmakers have complained that both Takata and NHTSA were mishandling the air bag safety issue. NHTSA has tried to show its bite under new head Mark Rosekind, who took the helm in January.
Rosekind will appear before the subcommittee next week. The panel will also hear from Takata Executive Vice President Kevin Kennedy, two leaders of automaker lobbying groups and the director of an independent testing organization.
Fiat Chrysler on Thursday expanded its recalls of vehicles with Takata air bags to about 5.22 million worldwide, involving the 2003 to 2011 model years. About 4.5 million of those vehicles are in the United States. Most of the vehicles have been involved in previous recall campaigns, FCA said.
Ford widened its recall of vehicles with Takata air bags to 1.51 million vehicles globally, including 1.38 million in the United States. The worldwide figure is up from 543,031 before last week’s announcements by NHTSA and Takata, Ford said.
Honda expanded its recall of vehicles with Takata air bag inflators by 350,000 in the United States and 340,000 in Japan.
Since 2008, Honda has recalled about 20 million vehicles worldwide with Takata air bag parts.
BMW said it is widening U.S. recalls of models with Takata air bags to 420,661 vehicles from 140,696.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp widened its recall of vehicles with Takata air bags to 82,784 in the U.S. market.
Nissan Motor Co told NHTSA that it will not expand its recall of U.S. recalls equipped with Takata air bags.
More Industry

Pennsylvania Dealership Under New Retailers
The sale of the Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram store puts a family auto group on a leaner path as first-time dealers take the helm.
Read More →
Battery Storage Takes Priority Over EVs
U.S. automakers are prioritizing battery energy stationary storage over electric-vehicle production as the consumer demand for EVs lags the rest of the world.
Read More →
Auto Dealers Feel Better But Not Great
A second-quarter Cox Automotive poll of franchised retailers and independents found better views of the current market after a good spring but anticipation of third-quarter storminess.
Read More →
New-Vehicle Sales Picture Relative
A May forecast is complicated by last spring’s trade tariff effects on auto retail. Despite continued hard realities, many consumers took advantage of ways to bite the bullet.
Read More →
Auto Group Acquires Third Nissan Rooftop
Iowa-based Coleman Automotive Group recently acquired its seventh dealership, McGrath Nissan, which it renamed Nissan of Elgin.
Read More →
April Less Affordable
Based on prices, reduced incentives and slower household income growth, consumers found it more challenging to buy new last month, Cox Automotive reported.
Read More →
Building an Extraordinary F&I Agency
Work to determine your specialized talent, because that fact will determine everything about your agency’s future.
Read More →
Recipe for Compliance
The secret to both amazing barbecue and compliance is the same: understanding the basics and committing to a process.
Read More →
EVs Getting More Attractive
A growing percentage of U.S. consumers are open to switching and fewer are adverse to the idea, according to a recently completed survey. That’s despite the end of a tax break.
Read More →
EV Sales Drop in April Following Surge
North American electric-vehicle sales were down 28% year-over-year, a sharp contrast from global EV sales growth of 6%.
Read More →