Nissan to recall 9,000 Micra, Sunny in India over defective airbags

Japanese auto major Nissan Motor yesterday said that is recalling 9,000 of its compact car Micra and sedan Sunny in India as part of its global recall over defective airbags.

The recall cover cars manufactured between 2008 to 2012 that use safety airbags, a Nissan India spokesperson said.

The car maker said that it would begin notifying customers soon, and Nissan dealers would replace the driver side airbag free of cost to the customer.

The faulty airbags, made by Japanese supplier Takata Corp, had led to manufacturers recalling millions of cars around the world. Car manufacturers, including Nissan, Honda, BMW, Ford, Toyota, and Chrysler had all been affected.

Tokyo-based Takata, which supplies car parts had developed the air bag system that was at the centre of the related recalls.

There had been complaints about the inflators rupturing, which led to metal fragments being ejected out of the system when the airbags get deployed in crashes.

The defect, which affects the passenger side airbag, arises from the inflators that can cause the airbags to splinter and break. This could result in serious injuries to passengers in the car.

In March, Nissan recalled over 1 million cars, SUVs and vans mainly in North America over a software glitch, which did not activate the front passenger air bag in a crash, and followed it up in July by recalling over 226,000 additional vehicles.

Takata's air bags installed in Honda vehicles have resulted in at least four deaths in the US, and have led to recalls of 7.8 million cars by 10 carmakers in the US in the past two years, according to US transportation regulator.

Since July 2012, India has seen over seven lakh vehicles being recalled by various manufacturers including Maruti Suzuki, Toyota, Ford, Honda and General Motors.

The biggest recall was made last month by Maruti Suzuki, which recalled 69,555 units of Dzire, Swift and Ritz models over defects in wiring harness fitment.