Tokyo, Japan — December 07, 2015 — As part of the latest developments in the Takata airbag recalls, Toyota is extending its efforts and recalling more than 1 million vehicles in countries around the world. This action is notable because it comes after Takata was fined hundreds of millions of potential dollars by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration earlier this month, a record-setting penalty that signals an increased focus on correcting these problems. The recalls are still ongoing as further investigations continue.
While the manufacturer has already intended to recall 12 million vehicles worldwide for risk from the Takata airbag inflators, the 1.6 million vehicles included have already been previously recalled. Bloomberg reports that eight people have died from inflator explosion-related injuries so far, and nearly 100 injuries have been caused.
That source also stated that a new injury is part of the reason for this latest action: a Nissan SUV in Japan reportedly underwent a rupture that hurt an occupant. This recall so far only affects vehicles outside of the United States, particularly in Japan but also in parts of western Europe.
In total, 22 models available in Japan are subject to this Toyota recall, with manufacture dates as old as 2004. As of October 28, 2015, most of the injuries and fatalities connected to the Takata inflator ruptures occurred in Honda vehicles: Toyota models were only involved in five incidents, the most recent listed as December 25, 2014. Nissan vehicles were also responsible for the same number of incidents, stretching as far back as January 2, 2014.
