More airbag recalls for Toyota models

EMBATTLED Japanese airbag manufacturer Takata’s problems have gotten worse, with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announcing a further recall impacting a number of Toyota models produced in the late-2000s.

The recall affects Corollas built between December 2006 and December 2009, the Yaris light car from January 2009 to December 2011, and the Avensis Verso people-mover from June to December 2009 – totalling 179,710 cars in Australia.

The recall notice says that the front passenger’s airbag inflator may be susceptible to moisture intrusion caused by high humidity and fluctuating temperatures, which makes it prone to rupture in the event of an accident, increasing the risk of injury for occupants.

This latest set of recalls will mean the total number of affected cars covering multiple brands in Australia will push beyond one million.

The recalls are not limited to Australia, which makes up a small fraction of the estimated 5.8 million Toyota vehicles around the world with potentially faulty airbag inflators.

Toyota’s global headquarters announced last week that the massive recall would affect about 1.5 million vehicles in Europe, 1.1 million in Japan and 820,000 in China, as well as cars in Central and South America, Africa and the Middle East.

Affected models include the Corolla, Yaris, HiLux and the Etios sedan/hatchback, which is sold in markets such as South Africa, Brazil and India.

This is the latest in a long list of large-scale recalls for Takata, with the most recent Australian example from August this year when 28,577 BMW models built between January 2002 and August 2006 were recalled, suffered the same moisture problems as the Toyota models.

The Australian recall numbers are dwarfed by those in the United States, where the total number of affected vehicles has now passed 68 million, and has been linked to a number of global car manufacturers including General Motors, Ford, Daimler, BMW, Honda, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Subaru, Nissan, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and, of course, Toyota.

The airbag fault has been linked to 16 deaths globally, with most of those occurring in the US.

Globally, the total number of affected airbag inflators has now risen to approximately 100 million since the recalls began back in 2008.

The ACCC says owners of defective Toyotas will be contacted by dealers to schedule an airbag replacement free of charge, once the replacement parts become available.