Honda recalls 2 million+ cars worldwide for airbag defect

[Darthrevan]

Japan's Honda Motor on Monday recalled more than two million vehicles worldwide over an airbag defect that could pose a fire risk.

Honda said the recall covers about 2,033,000 vehicles which were produced between August 2000 and December 2005, including over one million in North America and 668,000 in Japan.

Subject to the recall are a total of 13 types of vehicles including popular Fit and Accord models.

Front passenger airbag inflators could have been assembled with an improperly manufactured propellant component, Japan's third largest automaker said.

That could cause the container of the inflator to rupture in the event of a crash, posing a fire risk or injuring passengers, it added.

The same inflator problem has also caused top automaker Toyota to recall millions of vehicles globally.

Toyota has earlier said it acted as it received a complaint from a Japanese customer who said his passenger seat was burned from the defect.

Honda said the company had received no complaint or reports of injuries on its own.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/honda-recalls-2m-vehicles/1194544.html

[Zxcvb]

Actually, no big deal. Nowadays recalls are pretty common, every now and then sure have. Even BMW also got recall excercise.

[Extinguisher]

But the component that should save your lives could actually kill you, that is cause for worry.

[Kangadrool]

Almost everything is a double-edged sword.

 

Seat belts save lifes, but can kill also. But, this doesn't mean you should not wear it. Just need to understand how your seat belt works, how to get your body out from the belt in emergency when the release catch malfunction, put a spare belt cutter inside your car....

 

But the component that should save your lives could actually kill you, that is cause for worry.

 

[Janling3]

When they recall something, it means they take responsibility of their defective product by admitting the defect and its consequences to the consumers as well as their liability. Imagine if they just keep mum, and play tai chi in the event of court case. Just my two cents.

[Kb27]

When they recall something, it means they take responsibility of their defective product by admitting the defect and its consequences to the consumers as well as their liability. Imagine if they just keep mum, and play tai chi in the event of court case. Just my two cents.

 

Yeap, recall is to protect the manufacturer against lawsuits.

 

It doesn't necessary means every car will have their defective parts replaced eventually.

Many cars don't turn up, get sold, scrapped or exported.

[alphard96]

Actually, no big deal. Nowadays recalls are pretty common, every now and then sure have. Even BMW also got recall excercise.

yes, no big deal.

 

Honda Goldwing GL1800 - the only bike with airbag.

So, mother Honda is the pioneer in this airbag field for bikes.

[Wt_know]

heard from th news the airbag were Made in USA so not just MIC is bad?

Edited June 23, 2014 by Wt_know

[lausai88]

heng ah, my Honda is after year 2005

[Baal]

heard from th news the airbag were Made in USA so not just MIC is bad?

 

 

guess mistakes are unavoidable. However, its the frequency of occurences from the various sources that sets them apart. Not to mention, how long it takes for the Coy to admit it...

 

Heard these days, not just cars per se, but the tag Made in USA could effectively mean MIM as well.

[Holdenutessv]

heard from th news the airbag were Made in USA so not just MIC is bad?

 

Apparently it's made by Takata... And that probably explains the worldwide recall.

[Baal]

Almost everything is a double-edged sword.

 

Seat belts save lifes, but can kill also. But, this doesn't mean you should not wear it. Just need to understand how your seat belt works, how to get your body out from the belt in emergency when the release catch malfunction, put a spare belt cutter inside your car....

 

 

 

May I also add, that seat belt can also cause severe whiplash/neck/spinal injuries if used on children below 1.2m. Though law states 8, iirc, experts say booster seats should be used till child is 1.5m tall.

[Darthrevan]

Another Takata airbag, used in Honda cars, explodes, killing a woman in Malaysia

Honda said on Thursday that an explosion involving a defective airbag killed a woman in Malaysia, bringing to five the number of deaths believed to be linked to a flaw in parts made by embattled Japanese firm Takata.

The previous four cases happened in the United States, but Honda said one woman died in a July crash after an abnormal rupture of a Takata-made airbag. “An airbag on one of our vehicles exploded abnormally and a Malaysian woman was killed,” said a Tokyo-based Honda spokesman.

The revelation came as the car giant announced an additional recall of 170,699 vehicles worldwide due to the risk that an explosion could send metal shards from the airbag inflator hurtling at drivers.

Takata is facing the biggest test in its 80-year history with lawsuits, a possible criminal probe, and accusations of “deception and obfuscation” over the defect.

Millions of vehicles produced by some of the world’s biggest automakers, including Honda, Toyota and General Motors, are being recalled over the problem.

Honda has been named in a US lawsuit as a defendant, which alleges it conspired with Takata to hide the flaw for years.

The New York Times has quoted former Takata employees as saying secret tests were conducted a decade ago to investigate the defect, but executives ordered the destruction of data that exposed design flaws.

At least three out of the five deaths linked to the airbag “were caused by an abnormal explosion of the airbag, including the latest case in Malaysia", but the other two cases had yet to be confirmed, Honda said.

“We don’t know yet if those deaths were caused by the airbag explosion or by other factors involved in the accidents,” a company spokeswoman said.

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/another-takata-airbag-used-honda-cars-explodes-killing-woman-malaysia-2014#xtor=CS1-10

[Spring]

There's an article in today's ST World section pg A26 that the 2 previous Honda CEOs visited current CEO Ito and sternly rebuking him on the damage the recalls have done to the image of

Honda Motor Co. They urged him to sort things out quickly and be focused on restoring Honda's image by focusing on quality improvements rather than sales targets.

 

CEO Ito had taken a pay cut for 3 months.

 

Same thing happened to Toyota years back so no shorts cuts in this aspect and for the Japs, reliability is their selling point so they have to get this right or face permanent damage to the point no return. A real pity IMO that Honda has gone backwards not only on reliability but also design, models etc. Let's see how they overcome this!

[Baal]

Sadly, I generally agree that their design is erhem....bar a couple of models, these days. But better late than never, especially if Honda starts repenting now.

Meanwhile, the Korean looks, reliability, power, all up & coming Fast & Furious.

[Duckduck]

A real pity IMO that Honda has gone backwards not only on reliability but also design, models etc. Let's see how they overcome this!

 

only in SG do we have such pathetic honda lineup... look at their global sites & notice many models arent brought in by the AD. I rather a company do recalls than never admit faults n wait for thousands of customers to bang table then something happens like the other famous euro brand...

[Heartlander]

I remembered reading about this sometime ago, that a woman driver in US was killed in the car mysteriously without any physical damage, only that subsequent autopsy revealed cause as shrapnel from defective airbag actuator parts when activated. And it has now happened closer to our shore, up North.

 

Really scary if you look at the infographics below from sg.yahoo.com. If got curtain airbag, then really no where to run. Die without knowing. Keeping finger crossed that Mazda not using Takata parts, even though my ride was made only a year ago.

 

 

[Deranged]

I remembered reading about this sometime ago, that a woman driver in US was killed in the car mysteriously without any physical damage, only that subsequent autopsy revealed cause as shrapnel from defective airbag actuator parts when activated. And it has now happened closer to our shore, up North.

 

Really scary if you look at the infographics below from sg.yahoo.com. If got curtain airbag, then really no where to run. Die without knowing. Keeping finger crossed that Mazda not using Takata parts, even though my ride was made only a year ago.

 

 

 

Very true & kinda scary as well. If you read some of the articles such as the one below:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/10/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-takata-air-bag-recall/index.htm

 

It's especially frightening when you read the following: "Takata inflators seem to be vulnerable to persistent high humidity and high temperature conditions". Doesn't this sound like our tropical weather?

 

Additionally, It's not just Honda that's affected. This list includes BMW, Mazda, Nissan, Ford, Subaru etc.

 

Since it's happened up north already, I wonder if there's anything being done about it here in SG or everyone is just playing the "re-active" game & wait till something happens.

 

As a father of 2 young kids, I must say that I'm certainly worried since I drive a car that's included on this list.