Takata airbag glitch hits Honda Cars India; 223,578 cars recalled

The Takata airbag glitch has finally hit the Indian shores in a big way, leading to a massive recall of around 223,578 units from the Honda Cars India stable. The cars manufactured between 2003 and 2012 will be recalled to replace airbag inflators made by Japan’s Takata.

Takata is a Japanese company that has been supplying airbags to leading global car brands and has been mired in a massive recall exercise of its products for the last several years. Takata makes seats belts, air bags, steering wheel systems, interior parts, child restraint systems, besides electronic parts and other products for car majors globally. It has 46 plants across 17 countries. Takata is one of the world’s leading suppliers of airbag systems.

Takata India Private Limited was set up in 2009 as a Joint Venture between Takata Corporation, Japan and Anand, India to provide the Indian Automotive Industry with a range of safety products of global standards manufactured with Japanese expertise. The company manufactures Seat Belts, Air Bags and Steering Wheels and supplies to leading vehicle manufacturers in the country.

Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) announced on September 18, 2015 that it will voluntarily replace airbag inflators of 223,578 vehicles of previous generations of CR-V, Civic, City and Jazz as part of Honda’s preventive global recall campaign concerning air bag inflators.

The replacement would be carried out free of cost at HCIL dealerships across India in a phased manner, starting from October 12, 2015, and the company will communicate with customers directly, the press release said.

The customers can also check whether their car will be covered under this campaign by submitting their 17 character alpha-numeric Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on the special microsite which has been created on the company’s website (www.hondacarindia.com).

It may be recalled that on May 15, 2015 HCIL had announced that it would carry out preventive replacement of Passenger Side Air Bag inflator of 575 units of CR-V manufactured in Year 2004 and Driver side Air Bag Inflator of 10,805 units of Accord manufactured from Year 2003 – 2007 as part of Honda’s global recall/ safety improvement campaign concerning Air Bag inflators.  Additionally, the Passenger Side Air Bag Inflator of 1 unit of Civic of 2004 make will also be replaced, it had stated.

The automotive world has for the past several years been reeling under the recall of airbags that had affected millions of vehicles in the U.S. from nearly two dozen brands. According to various reports, approximately 34 million vehicles are potentially affected in the United States, and another 7 million have been recalled worldwide.

Initially, only six makes were involved when Takata announced the fault in April 2013, but  later many other automakers also issued recalls.

Source: Honda Cars India / Motown India