New Takata airbag inflator recall covers some 5 million vehicles
This news reported by Reuters arrives in the wake of the 10th death allegedly linked to faulty Takata components.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday reportedly announced a new recall related to Takata's faulty airbag inflators.
More than 19 million vehicles are already affected, and this new recall will add another 5 million or so vehicles to the mix, according to Reuters.
Takata first fell under scrutiny after its airbag inflators were discovered to be faulty. In the event of an accident, the inflator might rupture, causing shrapnel to shoot forth from the dashboard. The December death of a Georgia man in a Ford Ranger pickup reportedly marks the 10th fatality linked to this issue, and the first not in a Honda vehicle.
Before this new recall, 12 automakers recalled more than 23 million components in 19 million vehicles. Reuters reported that this new recall will include automakers that previously were not part of any Takata recall, including Volkswagen, Audi and Mercedes-Benz.
"I can confirm that Audi will be part of the Takata-related recall but we're not giving a list of affected vehicles," said Mark Clothier, a spokesman for Audi.
Mercedes-Benz's response was similar, though slightly less explicit. "NHTSA did mention us but we don't have model info -- there's a lot of info that's not yet available," said Donna Boland, a Mercedes-Benz spokeswoman. "We are not aware of any incidents in our vehicles. That said, safety is our number one priority and we are working with NHTSA as to next steps wants [sic] more info is available."
Volkswagen did not return a request for comment, but the automaker did confirm its recall to Reuters reporter David Shepardson:
.@VW confirms it is issuing its first Takata inflator airbag recalls, but doesn't say how many vehicles impacted
— David Shepardson (@davidshepardson) January 22, 2016
About 20 percent of the new recall will cover vehicles with components similar to those on the Ranger pickup involved in the latest fatality. NHTSA did not divulge how many vehicles affected by the new recall had been recalled in the past.
The list of vehicles already affected by Takata recalls can be accessed on NHTSA's safercar.gov website.
Editor's note, 7:58 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with comments from two of the three manufacturers contacted.
Update, January 26, 3:30 p.m. ET: Today, as a result of the aforementioned, Ford issued a expansion to an earlier recall, encompassing nearly 391,000 examples of the 2004-2006 Ford Ranger pickup in the United States and Canada. These vehicles possess a driver's side airbag inflator which could potentially explode. This expands upon an earlier recall that covered passenger-side inflators.