The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is conducting a new investigation into potentially defective – and lethal – Takata airbag inflators, according to a report by Reuters.
According to Reuters, the NHTSA report claims 30 million vehicles, produced from 2001 to 2019, are said to have been impacted by the faulty inflators which were either factory installed or retrofitted in prior recall repairs. The vehicles were built by several manufacturers, including Honda, Ford, Toyota, General Motors, Nissan, Subaru, Tesla, Ferrari, Mazda, Daimler, BMW, Chrysler, Porsche, Jaguar Land Rover, and Tata.
Reuters said the 30 million vehicles that are part of the NHTSA’s engineering analysis have inflators with a desiccant or drying agent. According to the NHTSA, there have been no reports of airbag inflators with the drying agent rupturing.
“While no present safety risk has been identified, further work is needed to evaluate the future risk of non-recalled desiccated inflators,” the NHTSA said. “Further study is needed to assess the long-term safety of desiccated inflators.”
According to Reuters, the NHTSA said the engineering analysis “will require extensive information on Takata production processes and surveys of inflators in the field.”
Reuters said more than 100 million airbags have been recalled worldwide over the last 10 years, making it the biggest recall in history. There have been at least 28 deaths worldwide and more than 400 injuries.
Read the full report at the Reuters website.