Toyota to recall 700 000 vehicles

By Lawrence Minnie

Toyota has recently announced that they will be recalling over 700 000 vehicles due to faulty airbag inflators.

Japanese company, Takata, have produced the airbag inflators for Toyota and a host of other manufacturers and by the early 2000’s Takata have found themselves embroiled in numerous cases of faulty manufactured equipment dating back to 1995, the first having to do with defective seatbelts.

With facilities on four continents globally, Takata had been supplying airbags since 1988 and in 2013 would see its first mass recall after a number of injuries and deaths were reported.3.6 millions vehicles were affected and separate reports indicated that Takata’s woes had begun almost a decade prior to this.

The problem in short with the airbags is the inflators used to inflate the airbags on contact. They are susceptible to moisture ingress causing the casing to rupture and essentially fling metal shrapnel through the inflated airbag and into to the person being protected.

Takata filed for bankruptcy in June 2017 after maintaining a 20% market share, after years of legal wrangling and now the bankruptcy, a host of big brand vehicle manufacturers now need to recall and replace potentially deadly airbags.

Vehicles that have been affected by the Takata recalls are far ranging, General Motors models, Volkswagen Audi Group models, Ferrari, Mclaren, Tesla, Jeep LandRover, Honda, Mitsubishi, Ford and Toyota have all been advised of potential issues.

Reports are indicating that vehicles as far back as 2002 may be affected.

ToyotaSA has yet to confirm which makes and models have been affected in SA and we are awaiting further news.