Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda were recalling about 3.3 million vehicles worldwide because the passenger-side air bag could deploy with too much force, sending shards of metal into the passenger area, the companies said on Thursday.
The recalls, announced in Tokyo, include about 1.7 million Toyotas, 1.1 million Hondas, 480 000 Nissans and 20 000 Mazdas. Almost 1.4 million of the vehicles are in the US.
Among the vehicle makers, Honda has had the most serious, continuing problem with air bags. Before Thursday’s action, Honda had recalled almost 2 million vehicles since 2008 for an excessively powerful driver’s air bag.
Honda said on Thursday that it was not aware of any injuries related to the defect, which involves the inflaters on passenger-side air bags. But late in 2011, Honda acknowledged 18 injuries and two deaths linked to a recall of 2 million vehicles because of the problem with the driver’s air bag.
Chris Martin, a Honda spokesman, said in an e-mail that the passenger-side air bag deployed differently. Instead of sending metal fragments directly at the driver, he said, the passenger’s air bag “could propel metal fragments upward toward the windshield or downward toward the front passenger’s footwell”.
The bags were produced by the Japanese supplier Takata Corporation, which also sold some of the defective products to General Motors (GM) and BMW, according to a report Takata filed on Thursday with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in Washington.
About 48 000 2003 Pontiac Vibes, which is a mechanical sibling of the Toyota Matrix, would be recalled, a GM spokesman, Alan Adler, wrote in an e-mail.
A Toyota spokeswoman, Cindy Knight, said in an interview that only 170 000 of the company’s vehicles would need repair, but 510 000 vehicles had to be inspected to find them.
The models are the 2001/03 Toyota Corolla, Corolla Matrix, Sequoia and Tundra, and the Lexus SC 430.
The Hondas being recalled are 2002/03 CR-V models; 2001/03 Civics; and 2002 Odyssey minivans. The Mazdas are the 2003/04 Mazda 6 and 2004 RX-8.
The Nissans being recalled were the 2001/03 Nissan Maxima, Infiniti FX, Infiniti QX4, Nissan Pathfinder and Nissan Sentra, a Nissan spokesman, Steve Yaeger, said in an e-mail. – Christoper Jensen from the New York Times