Feds confused, automakers alarmed over Takata air bags

The U.S. auto safety agency today dramatically boosted, to at least 7.78 million, the number of U.S. vehicles previously recalled for faulty Takata air bags that the government now says pose an immediate threat to front-seat passengers.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in what qualifies as very strong language for the agency, says it's telling owners "with urgency" to get their recalled cars, which include vehicles from 10 automakers, fixed at once as a matter "essential to personal safety."

The warning, as well as the underlying recalls dating to 2008, applies mainly to cars sold or ever registered in areas with high humidity, such as Southern Florida and Puerto Rico. NHTSA said its latest total, which has changed several times, could include some double-counted models and might change again.

The Takata bags involved are mostly on older-model vehicles, some of which have been on the roads since 2000, and which began being recalled by automakers in 2008. When they inflate in a crash they can tear loose from their brackets, blowing pieces of their housings — shrapnel, in effect — into the faces and chests of occupants. The chemical propellant that deploys the bags in a crash was improperly handled during manufacture, and the danger is amplified by humidity.

At least two deaths are blamed on the defect, reported years ago by Honda. Two more recent deaths are suspected but not confirmed.

NHTSA didn't say why it only now is raising an alarm about the imminent danger of the bags. The agency simply said it has an ongoing investigation into Takata bags. Federal prosecutors have opened a preliminary inquiry into Takata's actions regarding these air bags, according to a report on Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal, which cited "people familiar with the matter" and which USA TODAY could not independently confirm.

But it also appears that owners have been lax about getting the repairs done. General Motors, for example, says that only about 10% of its affected vehicles have been brought in.

"It's good to see Takata's defective air bag issue finally getting the attention it deserves from the NHTSA and media," says Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com, adding: "Of course, this is only the first step of a long process. With so many vehicles being recalled, it will take years to address the danger, and there will be far too many consumers that ignore the recall and continue to operate cars capable of throwing shrapnel at the driver or front passenger during an accident."

Vehicle owners wanting to confirm, because of the recent attention, whether they have a recalled model were told by NHTSA on Wednesday to use the automakers' recall sites to enter their vehicle identification numbers. A recently initiated NHTSA site that supposedly allows a recall search by VIN for all automakers was out of service.

Takata supplies bags to multiple automakers globally, and the potentially deadly defect has triggered the recall of some 16 million vehicles globally since 2008. The company said Wednesday, "Takata is taking this issue extremely seriously and will cooperate fully with the NHTSA and vehicle manufacturers conducting repairs."

On the Tokyo exchange Wednesday, Takata stock closed flat after nose-diving 23% Tuesday.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, another handful of cars was added to the millions recalled, with GM expanding a 2013 Takata air bag recall of Toyota-made Pontiac Vibes by about 9,900 to include 2005 models and some 2003s. It also said it is sending overnight letters telling owners not to use the front passenger's seat until the bags are replaced.

Toyota had done the same thing Monday, adding 28,515 to a previous recall of about 218,000, citing new information from Takata and from its own testing.

Toyota said in that announcement that the Takata passenger air bags are so risky that it wants dealers to get their hands on any unfixed cars among those 247,000 Toyotas and Lexuses in high-humidity areas and either repair them or disable the passenger air bags if they don't have the parts immediately available to fix the problem.

Automakers continue to do business with Takata. They consider it a very good supplier despite this situation, in which a manufacturing process that created the defect and inadequate record-keeping made it hard to later identify which bags might be faulty, leading to updates and expansions of the recalls over the years.

Here's the latest tally from NHTSA, as of Wednesday:

BMW: 627,615 total number of potentially affected vehicles

2000 – 2005 3 Series Sedan
2000 – 2006 3 Series Coupe
2000 – 2005 3 Series Sports Wagon
2000 – 2006 3 Series Convertible
2001 – 2006 M3 Coupe
2001 – 2006 M3 Convertible

Chrysler: 371,309 total number of potentially affected vehicles

2003 – 2008 Dodge Ram 1500
2005 – 2008 Dodge Ram 2500
2006 – 2008 Dodge Ram 3500
2006 – 2008 Dodge Ram 4500
2008 – Dodge Ram 5500
2005 – 2008 Dodge Durango
2005 – 2008 Dodge Dakota
2005 – 2008 Chrysler 300
2007 – 2008 Chrysler Aspen

Ford: 58,669 total number of potentially affected vehicles

2004 – Ranger
2005 – 2006 GT
2005 – 2007 Mustang

General Motors: undetermined total number of potentially affected vehicles

2003 – 2005 Pontiac Vibe
2005 – Saab 9-2X

Honda: 5,051,364 total number of potentially affected vehicles

2001 – 2007 Honda Accord
2001 – 2005 Honda Civic
2002 – 2006 Honda CR-V
2003 – 2011 Honda Element
2002 – 2004 Honda Odyssey
2003 – 2007 Honda Pilot
2006 – Honda Ridgeline
2003 – 2006 Acura MDX
2002 – 2003 Acura TL/CL
2005 – Acura RL

Mazda: 64,872 total number of potentially affected vehicles

2003 – 2007 Mazda6
2006 – 2007 MazdaSpeed6
2004 – 2008 Mazda RX-8
2004 – 2005 MPV
2004 – B-Series Truck

Mitsubishi: 11,985 total number of potentially affected vehicles
2004 – 2005 Lancer
2006 – 2007 Raider

Nissan: 694,626 total number of potentially affected vehicles

2001 – 2003 Nissan Maxima
2001 – 2004 Nissan Pathfinder
2002 – 2004 Nissan Sentra
2001 – 2004 Infiniti I30/I35
2002 – 2003 Infiniti QX4
2003 – 2005 Infiniti FX35/FX45

Subaru: 17,516 total number of potentially affected vehicles
2003 – 2005 Baja
2003 – 2005 Legacy
2003 – 2005 Outback
2003 – 2005 Baja
2004 – 2005 Impreza

Toyota: 877,000 total number of potentially affected vehicles
2002 – 2005 Lexus SC
2002 – 2005 Toyota Corolla
2003 – 2005 Toyota Corolla Matrix
2002 – 2005 Toyota Sequoia
2003 – 2005 Toyota Tundra