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Takata Modified Airbag Inflator Propellant
Takata Corp. says it has altered the propellant used in its airbag inflators to improve the material's quality.
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Takata Corp. says it has altered the propellant used in its airbag inflators to improve the material's quality.
An unnamed company official tells Reuters the compound still uses ammonium nitrate. He emphasizes that the unspecified reformulation doesn't represent an admission of defect with the original material.
Takata used an earlier version of the propellant in an estimated 38 million inflators in U.S. vehicles now being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Carmakers have recalled about 8 million cars and trucks this year alone to replace Takata inflators that could explode when triggered.
The Takata official says the modified compound is being used in recall replacement inflators.
Other airbag inflator manufacturers use less volatile guanidine nitrate for their propellants, according to Reuters. Takata says its earlier inflators appear to be sensitive to a combination of consistently high humidity and ambient temperatures. Thus recalls have focused on those climates.
NHTSA says there is no evidence that Takata inflators located in other regions "pose a current danger."
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