More defective Takata airbag inflators have led to Ford expanding its safety recall on certain vehicles.
The campaign now covers all 2004-2006 Ford Rangers, which were built in North America, in a total of 391,394 units, out of which 361,692 are located in the United States and federalized territories and 29,334 are in Canada. Dealers will replace the driver’s side airbag, free of charge.
Ford is aware of one report related to a death due to a Takata airbag deployment, after a driver hit a cow in South Carolina, in his 2006 Ford Ranger pickup truck, and metal from the ruptured inflator penetrated his neck. The newest incident brings the global number of reported deaths linked to the defective airbags with Takata inflators to 10, out of which nine were in the United States, as AutoNews reports.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that it will expand its recalls by approximately 5 million vehicles that have potentially defective Takata airbags, in a new action that brings the number of inflators recalled to 28 million in the States, and increases the number of cars to 24 million.
Additional testing on Takata driver-side airbags will be performed on approximately 4 million other vehicles, including vehicles from Honda and Volkswagen.
Takata inflators, which are metal cartridges loaded with propellant wafers, can explode with force, sending shrapnel into the cabin, if they are exposed to moisture. This mostly happens in older models and they are related to more than 100 injuries, in the States.
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