Honda to start mass recall in China over Takata airbags

Agence France-Presse

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Honda to start mass recall in China over Takata airbags

AFP

More than 245,000 vehicles, including Accord, Fit, City, Crosstour, and Everus S1 models, will be recalled in China

BEIJING, China – Honda will recall more than 245,000 vehicles in China over concerns about airbags made by troubled Japanese giant Takata, Chinese authorities said Sunday, October 1, dealing another blow to Takata’s largest client.

The Japanese carmaker and its Chinese joint venture partner Guangqi Honda will start withdrawing vehicles fitted with the potentially faulty airbags beginning October 23 and will include Accord, Fit, City, Crosstour, and Everus S1 models, China’s top consumer watchdog said. 

They will replace the faulty airbags for free.

Takata has recalled some 100 million airbags produced for some of the world’s largest automakers, including about 70 million in the US, because of the risk that they could improperly inflate and rupture, potentially firing deadly shrapnel at the vehicle’s occupants.

The problem has been linked to a number of deaths and injuries worldwide. In China, the defect involves more than 20 million vehicles, most of which have already been recalled.

Last month, Honda reached a $605-million settlement in a lawsuit over defective airbags in millions of cars on American roads.

Honda joins Nissan, Toyota, BMW, Mazda, and Subaru in agreeing a deal to settle a lawsuit, replace the defective airbags from now-bankrupt Takata, and to compensate car owners.

Multiple Honda models are affected by the case, including Civic, Accord, and CR-V, dating back to 2001.

The airbag defect has been linked to 16 deaths and scores of injuries worldwide, as the safety devices can inflate with excessive force, sending shrapnel from the inflator canister hurtling towards driver and passengers.

The issue led to the biggest car recall in history of about 100 million vehicles worldwide.

Takata in February pleaded guilty to fraud for hiding the defect, and paid a $1-billion fine. 

The company filed for bankruptcy in June.

The bankruptcy could mean the major automakers may find the airbag producer will not reimburse them for their costs, despite an $875-million fund created by Takata in January. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!