Takata Readies Huge New Airbag Inflator Recall

Takata Corp. plans to recall at least 35 million more of its airbag inflators in the U.S. and may announce the plan as soon as today, according to multiple media reports.

More than a dozen carmakers already have begun calling back about 60 million Takata inflators worldwide, including 29 million in the U.S., to replace frontal driver and/or passenger airbag systems.

The targeted devices can deteriorate over time, then misfire and explode when triggered by a crash. The flaw has been blamed on 11 fatalities worldwide.

Reports say the new Takata recall will be conducted in phases over several years. Campaigns to date have focused on older vehicles in hot and humid climates. Those conditions appear to cause the ammonium nitrate propellant in some inflators to degrade, thus making a misfire more likely. Newer Takata inflators, which mix a drying agent into the propellant, may resist degradation.

Last November Takata agreed to a consent order by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to recall all its ammonium nitrate-powered inflators by 2019 if the company cannot prove by then that the devices are safe. NHTSA has estimated there are about 85 million Takata inflators in the U.S. that have not yet been recalled.