Photo: Kia
Bankrupted in 2017 and subsequently acquired by Key Safety Systems, Takata Corporation is responsible for producing millions over millions of defective airbag inflators in the company’s Mexican subsidiary. Approximately 400 injuries and at least 28 deaths have been tied to faulty inflators manufactured by Takata, and the saga isn’t over yet.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened yet another engineering analysis into 30 million U.S. vehicles equipped with the malfunctioning safety devices. These vehicles were produced from the 2001 through 2019 model years, which is a little interesting, if you ask me.
You see, the Japanese company became Joyson Safety Systems in April 2018 following the aforementioned acquisition. Regulations allow cars of a given model year to be sold from January 1st of the previous calendar year, which means that automakers were aware of the safety hazards posed by the inflators they got from Takata and Joyson following Takata’s bankruptcy.
The automakers declined to comment according to Automotive News, which is exactly what I would expect from a cost-driven industry. The automakers in question are General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Tesla, Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Mazda, Daimler (Mercedes-Benz), the BMW Group, Porsche (part of the Volkswagen Group), Jaguar Land Rover, and others.
What’s exactly wrong with these cars, you ask? Well, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration highlights vehicles that had the airbags installed when they were manufactured as well as inflators that were used in previous Takata recalls, which is unnerving to say the least.
The 30 million vehicles included in this probe feature inflators with a desiccant, a.k.a. drying agent, which needs to be properly evaluated to assess the long-term safety. NHTSA said there have been no ruptures of vehicles on the roads with airbag inflators featuring this drying agent thus far.
An official announcement from the NHTSA will be published today.
You see, the Japanese company became Joyson Safety Systems in April 2018 following the aforementioned acquisition. Regulations allow cars of a given model year to be sold from January 1st of the previous calendar year, which means that automakers were aware of the safety hazards posed by the inflators they got from Takata and Joyson following Takata’s bankruptcy.
The automakers declined to comment according to Automotive News, which is exactly what I would expect from a cost-driven industry. The automakers in question are General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Tesla, Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Mazda, Daimler (Mercedes-Benz), the BMW Group, Porsche (part of the Volkswagen Group), Jaguar Land Rover, and others.
What’s exactly wrong with these cars, you ask? Well, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration highlights vehicles that had the airbags installed when they were manufactured as well as inflators that were used in previous Takata recalls, which is unnerving to say the least.
The 30 million vehicles included in this probe feature inflators with a desiccant, a.k.a. drying agent, which needs to be properly evaluated to assess the long-term safety. NHTSA said there have been no ruptures of vehicles on the roads with airbag inflators featuring this drying agent thus far.
An official announcement from the NHTSA will be published today.
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