Takata, one of the largest Japanese auto safety system suppliers, has been forced to issue additional recalls for 35 million to 40 million cars in the United States because of the 11 deaths linked to its air bag inflators. This is the largest ever recalls made in U.S. history.
The Japanese company agreed to a deal on Wednesday with auto-safety regulators in the country to initiate this massive recalls. So far, around 28.8 million inflators were already recalled to repair a defect which causes the air bag to explode when the car meets an accident.
"This is the largest recall in American history," said Mark Rosekind, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Administrator to reporters Wednesday afternoon.
Globally, approximately 50 million Takata airbags have already been recalled. Even with many investigations, U.S. safety regulatory officials were never able to settle the precise cause of the air bag inflator problems.
But they believe that the condition is more likely to occur in older cars and in places where there is high humidity.
The actual number of vehicles to be recalled was not immediately known. But more than likely, it will match the number of inflators supplied by Takata, with some vehicles requiring replacements for their driver-side and passenger-side air bags.
The questionable air bags have the potential of rupturing violently during a collision, shooting life-threatening shrapnel onto drivers and passengers alike. Aside from the 11 fatalities, approximately 100 people have suffered injuries due to these flawed air bags.
Since the Takata Corporation is one of the largest car safety parts suppliers in the world, virtually all major car makers are affected by its recall. By some estimates, almost one-fourth of all U.S. vehicles on the road could be affected by the recall.
Drivers of affected cars will receive notices when their cars are scheduled for repairs. About 8.2 million vehicles have already been fixed as of April 22.
