At least four automakers — Toyota, Volkswagen, Fiat Chrysler and Mitsubishi — continue to sell new vehicles with defective Takata airbags that will need to be recalled, according to a Senate Commerce Committee report released on Wednesday.þþThe report underscores the convoluted way the mass recalls of Takata airbags have unfolded, with new models still being fitted with defective airbags and, in some cases, recalled cars also receiving defective airbags.þþAutomakers are not required to tell buyers of the new cars about the problems with the airbags. Regulators emphasize, however, that the newer airbags do not pose an immediate threat, because it takes time for them to deteriorate.þþAt least 13 deaths worldwide have been linked to the defective airbags. The interior of the bags is sensitive to moisture and can rupture, sending shrapnel flying toward the car’s occupants. The defect has also been linked to more than 100 injuries, many of them critical.þþThe higher-risk airbags are not fitted with a drying agent that helps protect the interior from damaging moisture. Fourteen automakers are recalling more than 60 million vehicles to fix the defect in the biggest and most complex recall in automotive history.þþ“I find it bizarre on multiple levels,” said Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book, an automotive research company. “Multiple mainstream automakers essentially know that they are selling cars that already have a defective part in them. And it’s not a defective windshield wiper or sun visor hinge. It’s an airbag, a primary safety device,” he said.þþMr. Brauer said a tight supply of airbags worldwide meant automakers were struggling to find alternative suppliers. But he said that he thought automakers should be required to disclose which models have the airbags that will be recalled.þþ“If a company is unwilling to disclose which models, I as a consumer would hesitate buying any of their cars until I know which ones are affected,” Mr. Brauer said. “What if they required every car with these airbags to have an additional sticker put on them?”þþAt the root of the problem is a compound called ammonium nitrate, which helps generate the gases that inflate the airbag. Ammonium nitrate breaks down over time when it is exposed to moisture or temperature swings and, when activated, can cause its metal casing to disintegrate. In some versions of the airbags, a drying agent is used to prevent moisture from damaging the interior.þþTakata is the only major airbag maker that uses the compound in its driver and passenger-side airbags. It has been barred by auto safety regulators from entering into any new contracts for airbags that use ammonium nitrate without a drying agent.þþStill, automakers remain free to equip model years already in production with the defective Takata airbags, including a version of the airbag that does not contain a drying agent.þþThose cars would need to be recalled by 2018 under a schedule laid out in a consent order issued by federal auto safety regulators. Until then, however, automakers are not required to disclose that the cars carry the Takata airbags, leaving new owners unaware that their car has already been marked for recall down the road.þþToyota and Fiat Chrysler have refused to name the new models that contained the riskier airbags. Toyota told the committee that it expected to produce about 175,000 cars for the United States with the riskier Takata airbags through July 2017. Fiat Chrysler said one of its current models contained a passenger-side airbag with the riskier Takata airbag model.þþVolkswagen said that its 2016 Volkswagen CC, and its Audi brand’s 2016 Audi TT and 2017 Audi R8 models contained the riskier Takata airbags. Mitsubishi said that the 2016 and 2017 model years of its i-MiEV electric vehicle contained the riskier airbags.þþVictor Vanov, a Toyota spokesman, emphasized that the automaker was phasing out its use of Takata airbag inflaters without the drying agent, and that the cars had not yet been recalled.þþAlex Fedorak, a Mitsubishi spokesman, said that owners of the new cars would be contacted in the first quarter of 2017 to have their airbags replaced to a non-Takata inflater. Jeannine Ginivan, a spokeswoman for Volkswagen, did not provide a response.þþIn a statement, Bryan Thomas, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said that the agency had “called on automakers to do more to find and fix vehicles more quickly.”þþThe report also said that 11 automakers had replaced more than 2.1 million older Takata airbags with newer versions that would also need to be replaced.þþThe newer versions are considered safer for now — while permanent replacements are being made — because of the time it takes for ammonium nitrate to break down.þþStill, “what’s troubling here is that consumers are buying new cars not realizing they’re going to be recalled,” said Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, who compiled the report. “These cars shouldn’t be sold until they’re fixed.”
Source: NY Times
