Photo: Catalin Garmacea
Buying a Ferrari isn’t something one does out of necessity. A Ferrari is art on wheels and ownership is as far from the norm as one can imagine. At the end of the day, though, a Prancing Horse is still a car that’s prone to failure. Hence, the best name in the biz is not immune to the Takata airbag infamy.
This bit of news comes in response to the latest expansion of the Takata airbag recall, announced at the beginning of May 2016. According to a release published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, affected Ferrari models were manufactured between February 16, 2009, and July 8, 2011. These models are the 2009 - 2011 MY California and the 2010 - 2011 MY 458 Italia. The faulty part this time around is the passenger frontal airbag.
”In the event of a crash necessitating airbag deployment, these inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling," the agency informs. The scenario for disaster is an inflator rupture that could result in shrapnel striking the driver and/or front passenger. In the U.S., 10 people died due to the defect affecting Takata airbag inflators, nine of them in Honda vehicles. Two people in Malaysia are the latest victims of the shrapnel-blasting inflators.
Happily, however, Ferrari North America isn’t aware of any incidents or consumer complaints involving the Takata airbag problem. Down Under, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission recently made an announcement that mirrors that of the NHTSA. “A possible nonconformity within an outsourced component contained in the passenger side airbag,” is how the commission puts it. Affected cars in The Oz include certain units of the entry-level California, 458 Italia, 458 Spider, and FF manufactured from 2009 to 2011.
Instead of an ending note, I’m much obliged to tell you that government watchdogs, carmakers, and Takata have investigated the problem extensively since the beginning of the scandal in 2013. The largest automotive recall in history now comprises of 78 million inflators slated to be replaced through 2019.
”In the event of a crash necessitating airbag deployment, these inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling," the agency informs. The scenario for disaster is an inflator rupture that could result in shrapnel striking the driver and/or front passenger. In the U.S., 10 people died due to the defect affecting Takata airbag inflators, nine of them in Honda vehicles. Two people in Malaysia are the latest victims of the shrapnel-blasting inflators.
Happily, however, Ferrari North America isn’t aware of any incidents or consumer complaints involving the Takata airbag problem. Down Under, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission recently made an announcement that mirrors that of the NHTSA. “A possible nonconformity within an outsourced component contained in the passenger side airbag,” is how the commission puts it. Affected cars in The Oz include certain units of the entry-level California, 458 Italia, 458 Spider, and FF manufactured from 2009 to 2011.
Instead of an ending note, I’m much obliged to tell you that government watchdogs, carmakers, and Takata have investigated the problem extensively since the beginning of the scandal in 2013. The largest automotive recall in history now comprises of 78 million inflators slated to be replaced through 2019.
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