Takata Recall Becomes Largest Auto Recall in History

The airbag unit for the passenger seat of a Toyota Motor Corp. vehicle is seen at the company's showroom in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, April 11, 2013. Takata Corp. faces its biggest recall crisis in almost two decades after defective airbag inflators led Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. to call back more than 3 million vehicles. Photographer: Koichi Kamoshida/Bloomberg via Getty Images

On the 15th, we shared a story from FORTUNE Magazine detailing that Honda Motor Co  and Daihatsu Motor Co  would recall more than 5 million cars to replace potentially fatal air bag inflators made by Japan’s Takata Corp.

Over the last few days, this recall has escalated and it is now reported that Takata’s airbag recall is the largest auto recall in history.

CNN reports:

At least five U.S. deaths and one in Malaysia have been tied to the faulty airbags. But Japanese auto parts maker Takata, the world’s No 4 maker of airbags, has previously resisted demands by regulators to get all the affected airbags off the road.The airbags have been known to explode and send shrapnel into the face and body of both the driver and front seat passenger. Dozens of different models are affected, most of which were built between 2000 and 2011. Consumers can check to see if their car is included in the recall by going to a special website created by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at http://www.safercar.gov/rs/takata/index.html. But it could take some time to have all the recalled vehicles show up in that database, so car owners should check back in a few weeks as well.

Read the entire CNN report here, watch their video interview with Peter Valdes-Dapena here:

More Auto News