Automakers Honda and Chrysler announced they are adding more vehicles to the Takata airbag recall list. Despite calls from US lawmakers, the Japanese auto parts maker resisted calls to create a victim's compensation fund.
"Honda on Thursday said it is expanding air-bag recalls to include certain vehicles made between 2007 and 2011 due to a potential problem in a type of driver's-side air-bag inflater," The Wall Street Journal said.
The Japanese automaker, Takata's largest customer, will reportedly replace inflaters as a precaution in vehicles from Japan and Asia only. Included in the recall are the CR-V, Fit and the Stream for a total of 4.5 million cars worldwide.
And for the same reason, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles adds 88,346 Dodge Challengers to the Takata airbag recall list, according to Automotive News.
"The recall, posted on [the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]'s website Saturday, affects 2008-2010 model year Challengers manufactured between September 2007 and October 2010, according to the NHTSA safety report."
The NHTSA said Chrysler will replace front airbag inflators. When subjected to moisture, affected units may rupture and "spray metal fragments on the driver."
Takata airbags are at the center of "the largest auto-safety recall in US history." Eight deaths, all in Honda vehicles, are linked to the company's defective airbags. Automakers from around the world have issued recalls with the list said to be made up of over 20 million vehicles which prompted a US investigation into the matter.
But Takata has reportedly rejected calls to create a fund for victims, Senator Richard Blumenthal told the New York Times. The lawmaker shared a letter he received from Takata VP Kevin Kennedy with the newspaper, according to Business Standard.
"Takata believes that a national compensation fund is not currently required," Kennedy said in the letter adding that the company will inform the senator when it changes its mind.
NY Times contacted Takata who then said that they are "committed to treating fairly anyone injured as a result of an inflater rupture."
"For that reason, Takata has settled a number of injury claims and will continue to do so based on the facts and circumstances of individual cases," the company's spokesperson, Jared Levy, said.
US safety regulators have reportedly fined the company $14,000 a day in February until it provides documentation on Takata airbag recall.
