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GM Will Recall 200,000 Saab and Saturn Vehicles over Takata Issues

General Motors will issue a recall action for two brands that it killed off years ago.
Saab 9-3 MY 2005 3 photos
Photo: Saab
MY 2005 Saab 9-3 Sport SedanMY 2008 Saturn Astra
GM will recall around 200,000 Saab and Saturn vehicles in the USA and Canada. The recall campaign is related to the Takata airbag fiasco, and targets MY 2003-2011 Saab 9-3 cars, along with MY 2010 and 2011 Saab 9-5 models.

Furthermore, Saturn Astra models of the 2008 and 2009 model years will have to schedule a dealer appointment to replace their Takata-sourced driver-side airbag inflators. Out of the 200,000 vehicles mentioned, 180,000 were sold in the USA, while the remaining 20,000 units were delivered in Canada, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Fortunately for the owners of the affected vehicles, no deaths or injuries related to the Takata airbag inflators in the models that will be recalled by General Motors have been reported.

As the NHTSA already explained, the defective PSDI-5 front driver-side airbag inflators made by Takata in a particular period can explode with excessive force and send metal and plastic shrapnel towards the occupants of the vehicle it is supposed to protect.

Other GM vehicles affected by the Takata recall involve the Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Silverado, Chevrolet Camaro, Chevrolet Equinox, Chevrolet Malibu, and many others. The 2005 Saab 9-2X is also being recalled on the Takata issue, along with the MY 2003-2007 Pontiac Vibe. We are mentioning Pontiac because it is another brand that GM killed off.

Honda, Dodge/RAM, and Toyota have the largest volumes of vehicles affected by the Takata airbag recall situation. Last month, over five million vehicles were involved in the expansion of the Takata airbag inflator recall. Reports have revealed that Takata knew about the airbag issues in 2004, after conducting secret tests off work hours to verify the problem.

However, the executives of the company ordered engineers to destroy the data and get rid of the physical evidence. The NHTSA has fined Takata with $70 million, and the Japanese company will pay the sanction over the next five years.
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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