There seems to be no end to the Takata airbag scandal. Now, six more carmakers have come out with statements saying they are affected by the largest safety recall in US history. Supercar manufacturer Ferrari joins the likes of Toyota and Volkswagen in the recall which is estimated to affect 12 million vehicles in the United States. The front airbag on the passenger's side is the main concern of this recall.
Car and Driver reported that Ferrari has recently joined the fray of car dealership in the Takata airbag scandal with a reported 2,800 supercars part of the recall. The models and years of the affected vehicles are the 2009-2011 California and 2010-2011 458 Italia.
Last July, Ferrari recalled some of its cars for defective Takata airbags for different reasons. This time around the recall was implemented for the defective inflators, which release pieces of shrapnel.
MSN explains that the defective airbags have problems with the inflators. A lack of drying agent causes the inflators to deteriorate as time goes by. This defect has already claimed 13 lives and more than 100 injuries.
Other big brands have joined the recall recently as well. Honda is recalling 4.5 million cars, Fiat Chrysler 4.5 million, Toyota 1.65 million, and Subaru with almost 400,000 vehicles. Included here are the Saab 9-2x and Pontiac Vibe which Toyota and Subaru produced for General Motors. Mazda is recalling 730,000 cars and bringing up the rear is Mitsubishi with 38,000 Lancers.
These numbers are all for US-market cars. Outside the US, the Japanese Transport Ministry has announced that an additional seven million cars around the world are affected by the Takata airbag scandal. Various announcements have doubled the initial number of cars that have joined the recall.
78 million airbag inflators are now due to be replaced. The recall is expected to go on until 2019. As for Takata’s future, private equity firm KKR & Co. is reportedly in the running to buyout the company.
