New Vehicles Found to Have Faulty Takata Air Bags
June 01 2016 - 12:30PM
Dow Jones News
At least four auto makers confirmed equipping new vehicles with
defective Takata Corp. air bags that will eventually need
replacing, according to Democrats on a U.S. Senate panel, further
spotlighting government officials' challenges in tackling the
largest automotive recall in the nation's history.
Toyota Motor Corp., Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, Volkswagen AG
and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. have all confirmed equipping some new
vehicles with rupture-prone Takata air bags that lack a drying
agent, according to a report from U.S. Senate Commerce Committee
Democrats. Those air bags, linked to the lion's share of deaths and
injuries from ruptures, are legally allowed to be sold in vehicles
but must be recalled by the end of 2018.
The Takata air bags use ammonium nitrate as a propellant in
inflaters, a chemical that can destabilize amid prolonged exposure
to moisture and heat, leading to explosions that spray shrapnel in
vehicle cabins. The inflaters become riskier with age, officials
have said. The safety problem is linked to at least 11 deaths and
more than 100 injuries world-wide.
Nearly 70 million air bags are being recalled in the U.S. after
a recent expansion that included devices without a drying agent to
prevent moisture from building. The U.S. National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration is coordinating the recalls, prioritizing
states where air bags are most at risk of exploding. Regulators are
monitoring Takata and can order additional recalls under certain
circumstances. Officials have said some air bags will have to be
replaced more than once as newer devices, still deemed problematic,
replace older, riskier air bags in the interim.
Meanwhile, federal car-safety regulators slapped a Chevrolet
dealership in Arizona with a $40,000 fine after a two-year probe
found that it sold recalled vehicles that hadn't been repaired,
violating U.S. law, according to documents posted on the NHTSA
website. Regulators said the dealership has improved
procedures.
A dealer operator at the dealership couldn't immediately be
reached. Automotive News reported earlier on the settlement.
Taken together, the actions furthered an unprecedented U.S.
government crackdown on the auto industry for safety lapses that
have prompted congressional hearings, investigations and financial
penalties. In November Takata agreed to fines for failing to alert
regulators to defective air bags in a timely manner as legally
required, and the company faces further penalties depending on the
outcome of a U.S. Justice Department probe. Takata has said it is
cooperating with government officials.
Wednesday's report on faulty air bags was released by Sen. Bill
Nelson (D., Fla.) a persistent critic of Takata and car-safety
regulators' handling of widespread recalls affecting the safety
devices. It found that Toyota expects to produce roughly 175,000
vehicles with the defective air bags starting from this past March
and ending in July 2017.
At least one current Fiat Chrysler model contains a front
passenger-side air bag that uses an inflater lacking a drying
agent, the report found. The Toyota and Fiat Chrysler models
weren't specified.
The report cited a handful of models with defective air bags
lacking a drying agent. They are the 2016 and 2017 Mitsubishi
i-MiEV; 2016 Volkswagen CC, 2016 Audi TT and 2017 Audi R8. Audi is
Volkswagen's luxury unit.
A Fiat Chrysler spokesman said the company isn't equipping any
new vehicles with parts under recall. Representatives for other
auto makers had no immediate comment or didn't immediately respond
to a request for comment.
"Takata deeply regrets the incidents associated with its air-bag
inflaters and is working aggressively to address the situation," a
spokesman for the Japanese supplier said.
The report found that more than 2.1 million replacement air-bag
inflaters containing ammonium nitrate without a drying agent had
been installed in U.S. vehicles as of March. Democratic lawmakers
suggested that sales of vehicles with those air bags be stopped
until they are repaired.
The report also faulted lagging repairs to vehicles with
defective air bags and urged Takata, regulators and auto makers to
increase supply of devices that don't use ammonium nitrate. A NHTSA
spokesman had no immediate comment.
Honda Motor Co., Takata's largest customer, initially said
17,000 new vehicles were equipped with air-bag inflaters lacking a
drying agent, the report said. But in a more recent discussion with
lawmakers, Honda said no new vehicles were or would be equipped
with such inflaters. A Honda spokesman didn't immediately respond
to a request for comment.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 01, 2016 12:15 ET (16:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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