Crain News Service staff and wire reports
TOKYO (May 13, 2015) — Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. are recalling more than 6.5 million cars globally to replace potentially faulty airbag inflators made by Takata Corp.
Toyota said May 13 that it would recall about 5 million Corolla, Vitz/Yaris and other models worldwide to replace Takata airbag inflators.
The recall involves 35 models including 1.36 million cars in Japan, 1.27 million in Europe, 637,000 in the U.S. and 18,000 in Canada, the company said in an email.
Toyota said it will replace the affected front driver-side air-bag inflators with newly manufactured parts produced by Daicel Corp. Takata will supply the replacements for front passenger-side air-bag inflators because compatible parts from a different supplier are not available, the auto maker said.
No accidents or injuries have been reported, according to a Toyota spokeswoman, adding that the recall was for investigative purposes. Cars with production dates from March 2003 to November 2007 are subject to the recall.
Nissan said it was recalling about 1.56 million cars globally over the same issue, adding that no accidents or injuries had been reported.
Nissan's recall includes 563,000 cars in Europe, 326,000 in North America, 288,000 in Japan and 274,000 in China. The company did not give details about the models affected.
Nissan begin notifying customers in June, said Dion Corbett, a company spokesman.
Six fatalities in Honda cars — including five in the U.S. and one in Malaysia — have been blamed on shrapnel from Takata air bags. At least 105 injuries are connected to the flaw, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson said last month.
Honda said May 13 it was preparing to file additional recalls related to Takata air bags. The company did not specify which models or regions the recalls would affect.
Takata faces multiple class-action lawsuits in the U.S. and Canada as well as a U.S. criminal investigation and a regulatory probe.
Reporter Hans Greimel, Reuters and Bloomberg News contributed to this report, which appeared on the website of Automotive News, a Detroit-based sister publication of Tire Business.