United States government officials have begun an investigation into Honda Motor Co. and its air bag manufacturing process following months of discussion with the automobile producer and customers.
The investigation involves 19 complaints of faulty air bags, one of which resulted in a fatal front crash. The complaints, however, also involve combustible air bag inflators produced by Takata Corp.
"Malfunction of the air bag control module may prevent air bags from deploying in a crash," said a filing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, according to Reuters.
"This malfunction causes the air bag status/readiness indicator lamp to illuminate."
Safety regulators and Honda Motor Co. officials confirmed earlier this summer that a woman who died in a Los Angeles-area car crash last year was the eighth person killed by faulty airbags produced by Takata Corp.
The victim died of neck and head injuries when the driver's air bag in her 2001 Honda Civic released metal shrapnel because it inflated with too much force, Fox News reports.
Honda officials announced earlier this month that they are pulling the plug on hybrid and compressed natural gas versions of its flagship Honda Civic car. The company also revealed the temporary suspension of plug-in versions of the Honda Accord.
The decision to hold back production on those models relates to market demands for natural gas vehicles and consumer purchasing power.
"We gave it a long run, and have tried and tried and tried," Honda Executive Vice President John Mendel told USA Today.
"But, that market outside of taxi cabs, commercial vehicles,...is not experiencing the uptick we expected."
