Ford Motor Co. said it will expand its Takata airbag recall to 539,000 more vehicles, bringing the company’s total to more than 1.5 million vehicles recalled due to airbag defects.

This expanded airbag recall follows Takata’s notification to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in May that certain airbag inflators are defective.

For Ford, affected vehicles include:

• 2005-2014 Ford Mustang vehicles built at Flat Rock Assembly Plant for driver side airbag inflators
• 2005-2006 Ford GT vehicles built at Wixom Assembly Plant for driver side airbag inflators
• 2004 Ford Rangers built in North America at Edison Assembly Plant
• 2004-2006 Ford Rangers built at Twin Cities Assembly for passenger side airbag inflators

Ford recalled nearly 500,000 Mustangs and GTs for the problem in December. But facing government pressure, Takata agreed last week to expand the number of airbag inflators that need to be recalled to 33.8 million in the United States.

As a result, Ford expanded its recall to include these additional model years.

Ford disclosed in November 2014 that it was aware of one airbag deployment that might be related to the issue, in which a driver’s leg was injured by a metal fragment when the airbag deployed after a crash. Ford has not seen any other inflator ruptures on Ford vehicles in the field or in testing to date.

Ford dealers will replace the defective Takata airbag at no cost to the customer.

Takata Airbag Recall

More than 30 million vehicles in the United States made by 10 different automakers including Ford have been recalled to replace defective airbags on the driver’s side, passenger’s side, or both.

The airbags, manufactured by Takata, were mostly installed in cars from model years 2002 through 2008, although they list has been expanded through 2014 in some cases. Some of those airbags could deploy explosively, injuring or killing car occupants.

The problem with the defective airbags is the airbag’s inflator, a metal cartridge loaded with propellant wafers, has at times ignited with explosive force. If the inflator housing ruptures with too much force, it can spew shrapnel into the passenger compartment.

The first reported Takata exploding airbag occurred in 2004.  However, Takata did not issue an airbag recall until 2008.

Reports indicate that Takata repeatedly failed to fully investigate the airbag malfunction and issue proper recalls, allowing the problem to proliferate and cause numerous injuries and at least six U.S. deaths over the last 13 years.

Many Takata lawsuits against the airbag manufacturer are claiming that Takata knew as early as 2001 that its airbags may have had a deadly defect.