Takata Air Bags Recalled in South Korea
September 28 2016 - 1:30AM
Dow Jones News
SEOUL—South Korea's transport ministry has ordered more than a
dozen auto makers, including the local unit of General Motors Co.,
to recall hundreds of thousands of imported cars equipped with
rupture-prone Takata Corp. air bags.
A total of 221,870 vehicles made by Honda Motor Co., Toyota
Motor Corp., Ford Motor Co., Volkswagen AG, Mercedes-Benz, GM and
10 other foreign car makers that had the faulty air bags are
subject to recall, the ministry said in a statement Wednesday.
In the event of a crash, the air bags installed in these
vehicles could send metal fragments flying and injure passengers,
it said.
The Korean move is the latest in a string of recalls of the
problematic air bags linked to deaths and injuries world-wide.
Car makers around the world have recalled millions of vehicles
that contain air bags whose inflater lacks a drying agent.
The recalled air bags use ammonium nitrate as a propellant in
the inflaters, a chemical that can destabilize after prolonged
exposure to moisture and heat, which can cause them to explode,
spraying shrapnel in vehicle cabins. The inflaters become riskier
with age, officials have said.
The ministry said some 110,000 imported vehicles, or about half
the total cars subject to recall, will initially be called in for a
fix because a few auto importers, including GM Korea Co., haven't
finalized their recall plans globally.
GM Korea, which has been ordered to recall about 97,000 cars in
Korea, said its recall will be implemented in accordance with a
global plan, which is being worked out by its parent company in the
U.S.
Takata air-bag ruptures have been linked to 14 deaths and more
than 100 injuries globally, leading to the largest automotive
recall to date. Nearly 70 million air-bag inflaters are being
recalled in the U.S. alone.
The Japanese auto-parts maker is seeking a cash infusion from
private-equity firms or automotive suppliers amid mounting recall
costs. It remains under investigation by the U.S. Justice
Department.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration fined Takata
$70 million in November for failing to alert regulators to
defective air bags in a timely manner as required under federal
law.
Write to In-Soo Nam at In-Soo.Nam@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 28, 2016 01:15 ET (05:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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