Nissan recalls Micra over airbags

NISSAN’S Micra light hatchback is the latest car to be caught up in an airbag recall saga, with almost 13,000 vehicles being pulled back to Australian dealerships to inspect and possibly replace driver airbag modules that might have been incorrectly assembled.

This recall for K13 Micras sold between September 2010 and October 2011 is on top of ongoing safety campaigns to replace front passenger airbag inflators on almost 26,000 Nissan vehicles across the N16 Pulsar, D22 Navara, Y61 Patrol, T30 X-Trail and A33 Maxima ranges in model years 2001 to 2003.

Globally, more than 17 million cars equipped with potentially faulty Takata front passenger airbags have been recalled after it was discovered that the units could explode with excessive force, spraying metal shards inside the car.

The airbags have been linked to four deaths in the United States where safety authorities are investigating.

In Australia, about 150,000 vehicles have been recalled over airbag issues, all of them from Japanese suppliers. Apart from Nissan, Honda, Toyota and Mazda have also been caught up in the Takata issue, with 43,414, 19,600, and 4639 vehicles respectively under recall orders.

In Japan, Reuters reports that Takata has modified the composition of the ammonium nitrate propellant in its airbags.

“We changed the composition in an effort to improve quality,” a Takata spokesperson was quoted as say, adding that Takata did not admit to any defect with the original version.

The latest Nissan recall on Micra covers various countries, including Australia where the company is notifying owners that they need to have their cars inspected at their Nissan dealership.

In a statement on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission recall website, Nissan says: “The driver side airbag inflator may have been incorrectly assembled.

“If the airbag does not deploy correctly there is an increased risk of injury to the driver during a collision.”

Nissan Australia general manager corporate communications Peter Fadeyev told GoAuto that the company had no reports of incidents or injuries with the Micra airbags in Australia.

Nissan owners seeking more information can call the Nissan Australia Customer Assistance Centre on 1800 988 334.