Honda recalls another 4.5 mn cars over Takata Airbags

Japanese carmaker Honda today announced that it would recall another 4.5 million vehicles world-wide due to Takata-made air bags that could explode when deployed.

Honda is recalling 1.63 million Fit compacts CR-V crossovers and Stream in Japan, but did not say which other countries are affected by this latest recall.

However it did say that there were no new recalls in the US or Canada.

The total number of recalls made by Honda over Takata's faulty air bags has now reached 24.5 million of the 40.5 million vehicles recalled globally by car manufacturers over this issue, making it the world's most extensive auto-safety recall.

Honda said that it would replace driver side air bag inflaters from these vehicles, as it found density problems with propellant pellets inside inflaters, which could lead to explosions.

Tokyo-based Takata has been under fire since 2008 after 10 global car makers including Toyota, Nissan, General Motors and BMW were forced to recall cars over its faulty air bags.

Part of the now-infamous Takata airbag fiasco comes after a campaign over driver-side airbag inflators.

The affected vehicles have a passenger-side frontal air bag that might be susceptible to moisture intrusion and other factors, including variability in manufacture over time, which could cause the inflator to rupture.

This posed a hazard for passengers by way of rupture of inflator causing metal fragments to strike the passenger seat occupant or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death in the event of a crash.

Takata is currently facing multiple class action / criminal lawsuits and regulatory probes in North America amid allegations that it was aware of the danger to lives as early as 2004, but concealed the problem.