Ford and Mazda Forced To Recall Millions of Vehicles Over Takata Air Bag Defect

Update: On Thursday, Ford announced that its vehicle recall would cost an estimated $610 million. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is forcing Ford Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp. to recall more than 3 million vehicles for potentially lethal air bag issues. The driver-side Takata air bag inflators can reportedly rupture, blasting out metal shards.

These faulty Takata air bag inflators have caused at least 27 deaths worldwide and more than 400 reported injuries, according to Reuters. Eighteen of those deaths were in the United States. 

Several Ford models are reportedly included in the recall, including Ford Ranger, Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Ford Edge, Lincoln Zephyr and Lincoln MKZ.

The NHTSA is also including some 5,800 Mazda vehicles for the same Takata air bag problem. The recall involves the Mazda B-series made from 2007 to 2009, Insurance Journal reports. 

Both automakers had been petitioning the NHTSA to officially find the Takata air bag issue of “inconsequentiality”, according to Insurance Journal. 

The NHSTA denied those appeals Tuesday and ordered Ford to notify its affected customers within 30 days. 

Ford Motors told Insurance Journal the vehicles in this new recall were part of an earlier Takata recall, but did not elaborate further.

This latest recall joins another recall of General Motors (GM) vehicles in November. The NHTSA forced GM to send notices on some 5.9 million vehicles for similar problems with the Takata air bag. 

At the time, GM argued that the recall wasn’t necessary because the issue didn’t pose a safety risk, and that fixing the issue would cost the company $1.2 billion, according to CNBC.

The Takata air bag defect has led to the largest auto recall in U.S. history, according to NDTV. More than 100 million Takata air bag inflators worldwide have been recalled, from 19 major automakers. 

“The evidence makes clear that these inflators pose a significant safety risk,” NHSTA regulators said in a statement. 

An entire page is dedicated to the Takata air bag recall on the NHSTA website. The agency advises consumers concerned with this recall to consider three steps:

• Check for Recalls on the NHSTA website using your vehicle identification number 
• Get the Fix by calling your local dealer for a free repairs 
• Sign up for recall alerts directly sent to you from the NHSTA

Top Class Actions is tracking these recall alerts because of the potential for them to form into class action lawsuits and other litigation. 

The Takata air bag issue is behind a $5 million settlement from Honda and the state of Arizona. A lawsuit was filed by the state’s attorney general over allegations the automaker was hiding the Takata air bag defects. 

A Mesa, Arizona woman was killed Aug. 2020 driving a Honda Civic when the driver side Takata air bag ruptured. That same month, Honda said it would be paying out $96 million to resolve the air bag defects. 

Do you drive any of these recalled vehicles? How concerned are you about the Takata air bag defect? Let us know in the comments below.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

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• Canada Subaru, Toyota, Mazda Airbags Class Action Settlement
• US Government Investigating Faulty Airbags in 12M Vehicles
• Honda Confirms 26th Death Linked to an Exploding Takata Air Bag