Toyota Motor Corp announced Thursday that they'll be recalling 57,000 vehicles worldwide. They'll be replacing the potentially defective airbags by Takata Corp.
Takata's faulty air bags have been linked to a number of deaths and injuries. The latest and 5th death happened in Malaysia two weeks ago. Since 2008, more than 16 million vehicles have been recalled to replace the air bag inflator, which with too much force can explore and spray metal shrapnel inside the vehicle.
According to the investigation of The New York Times in September, Takata was first alerted about the faulty air bags in 2004. Instead of doing something, the company hid the crash tests done in early 2000s, showing the metal shrapnel caused by the ignition canisters in collision.
Toyota is recalling two models-Vitz subcompacts, RAV4 crossover models manufactured between December 2002 to March 2004. In Japan, the company's subsidiary Daihatsu Motor Co also issued a recall of 27,571 Mira minivehicles made between December 2002 and May 2003, also because of Takata's air bag.
The company is also investigating another airbag problem in vehicles made in 2003. Revealed by the transport ministry on Wednesday, the airbag rupture occurs on the passenger side of the discontinued Will Cypha.
Toyota spokesman Kayo Doi said that the newfound problem wasn't part of the current recall but will be added to a new investigation.
In 2008, Honda was the first to recall vehicles with defective air bags way before reported injuries, starting with 4,000 Civics and Accords models from 2001. With nine other manufacturers, the car company has recalled more than 10,000 cars in the U.S.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gave Takata a Tuesday deadline to issue a nationwide recall. This can affect five major car manufacturers namely Ford Motor Co, Chrysler Group LLC, Mazda Motor Corp, Honda and BMW AG.
