Takata controversies

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• A total of 19 deaths in the U.S. have been attributed to faulty Takata airbag inflators that can rupture and sending metal fragments flying into the cabin.

• Volkswagen's U.S. unit has agreed to a $42 million settlement covering 1.35 million vehicles equipped with faulty Takata airbag inflators.

• VW's settlement will reimburse owners for things like lost wages and rental car fees

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• owners “are urgently required to take their vehicles to the nearest Nissan dealership for the airbag fix”.

• the inflators, together with environmental elements such as prolonged exposure to sunlight and fluctuating temperatures, were discovered to rupture and send shrapnel into the cabin regardless of the vehicle being in an accident or not.

• Nissan South Africa has issued a recall of several older model vehicles affected by the ongoing Takata airbag debacle

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• Owners of the affected vehicles will start receiving recall notices the week of March 8. All vehicles will be inspected for the air bags and will be replaced if found.

• Ford announced a recall last week after they noticed 45 air bags were missing from their stock service parts that were supposed to be purged.

Company response

• Remediation — BMW

  BMW dealers will replace the faulty airbags or airbag inflators, free of charge.

• Remediation — Audi

  “Audi is working intensively on a remedy with the supplier but currently it is unclear when the remedy will be available,” the automaker said in government documents.

• Ongoing disclosure — Honda

  Replacement parts aren’t yet available and Honda says repairs won’t start for about a year.

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• Nissan is recalling nearly 308,000 vehicles in the U.S. to replace dangerous Takata air bag inflators that can explode and hurl shrapnel.

• Dealers will replace the inflators starting Feb. 10.

• The Nissan recall covers certain 2001 through 2003 Maximas, 2002 through 2006 Sentras, 2002 through 2004 Pathfinders, and 2007 through 2011 Versas. Also included are 2001 through 2004 Infiniti I30 and I35s, 2002 through 2003 QX4s, 2003 through 2008 FX35 and FX45s and 2006 through 2010 M35 and M45s.

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• Another 10 million air bag inflators made by now-defunct Takata Corp. must be repaired in what could be the last major wave of the auto industry’s largest-ever safety recall crisis.

• This new round of recalls, announced Wednesday, affects US-market vehicles from BMW, Fiat Chrysler, Honda and Subaru, among others.

• The problem with these already-repaired vehicles is that during the early stages of the recall, Takata replaced dangerous old inflators with new ones of the exact same design and chemistry.

Company response

• Recall — General Motors

  General Motors will recall about 7 million big pickup trucks and SUVs worldwide to replace potentially dangerous Takata air bag inflators.

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• The announcement came Monday after the U.S. government told the automaker it had to recall 6 million of the vehicles domestically.

• NHTSA concluded that the GM inflators in question are at risk of the same type of explosion after long-term exposure to high heat and humidity as other recalled Takata inflators,

• General Motors will recall about 7 million big pickup trucks and SUVs worldwide to replace potentially dangerous Takata air bag inflators.

Company response

• Refund or compensation — Mitsubishi

  Mitsubishi has offered to buy back affected vehicles at market value. It has also offered to provide alternative transport options until the buy-back is completed.

• Refund or compensation — Honda

  Honda will offer to buy back registered vehicles at market price. It will also arrange alternative transport options directly with the customer until the buyback process is completed.

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• These vehicles may have been fitted with potentially deadly Takata NADI 5-AT airbags. There is a risk these airbags may misdeploy in an accident and cause metal fragments to propel out of the airbag at high speed, resulting in serious injuries or death to vehicle occupants. There is also a risk that these airbags may under-inflate.

• Honda and Mitsubishi have commenced voluntary recalls for vehicles manufactured between 1996 and 2000 due to a serious safety concern relating to faulty airbags.

• Honda's recall is for 2.7 million cars with Takata airbags that might explode.

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• The vehicles from major carmakers, including BMW, Holden, Honda, Mitsubishi and Toyota, have already been recalled, but the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is warning motorists not to drive the affected cars at all until the airbags have been replaced.

• A Takata airbag misdeployment can result in death or serious injury, even in a minor collision,” the ACCC deputy chair, Delia Rickard, said.

• The consumer watchdog has warned that the recall of 20,000 vehicles fitted with faulty Takata airbags is now classified as “critical”.

Company response

• Remediation — BMW

  BMW will arrange to tow your vehicle to repair facilities for inspection, or send a mobile technician out to your premises or vehicle's location to inspect the vehicle

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• Some 12,000 BMW vehicles are being urgently recalled after transport safety authorities identified another Takata airbag which poses a critical risk of death or serious injury, the competition watchdog says.

• BMW will arrange to tow your vehicle to repair facilities for inspection, or send a mobile technician out to your premises or vehicle's location to inspect the vehicle

• If a vehicle with an affected airbag crashes, the airbag inflator could rupture, causing sharp metal fragments to enter the vehicle cabin at high speed, the ACCC says.

Company response

• Remediation — BMW Australia

  If faults are found (including those who are probable to happen based on thorough technical assumptions), BMW Australia will take care of the car and have the defective airbag/component replaced at no charge.

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• BMW Australia issued a severe warning to customers currently driving E46 models manufactured between 1997 and 2000 with Takata airbags

• If faults are found (including those who are probable to happen based on thorough technical assumptions), BMW Australia will take care of the car and have the defective airbag/component replaced at no charge.

• Specifically, drivers are instructed to stop driving the car as there are multiple clues that the airbags could deploy accidentally and throw out metal shrapnels and debris which could result in life-threatening injuries or even death.

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• The recall also includes vehicles built by Audi, Honda, Toyota and Mitsubishi.

• Another, separate malfunction of Takata airbags is prompting the recall of an additional 1.4 million vehicles.

• As with the wider ongoing recall, the new fault can cause airbag inflators to explode, under-inflate or spew out shrapnel at passengers, raising the risk of serious injury or death, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Company response

• Recall — Mazda

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• The chemical can deteriorate when exposed to high heat and humidity and burn too fast, blowing apart a metal canister and hurling shrapnel.

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• The United States is fining air bag maker Takata Corp <7312.T> $14,000 per day for failing to cooperate fully with the government's investigation into the company's defective airbags, the U.S. transportation secretary said on Friday.