Ford recalls about 391K Ranger pickups due to air bag death

Takata shares tumbled 10% in Tokyo on January 25, hitting their lowest level since 2009, after U.S. regulators said recalls involving the company’s air bags would expand by around 5 million vehicles, triggering concern over wider recall costs.

Confirming recent reports, Ford has announced a recall expansion for Ranger pickups built with Takata airbag inflators.

Ford is expanding its safety recall on vehicles that have certain airbag inflators after Takata declared that those inflators are defective.

Other automakers are expected to announce more recalls soon as the Takata inflator mess continues to grow. The Japanese company has also been dumped as a supplier by many automakers following the recalls.

The total number of recalls is now 28 million globally, according to a spokesperson from the NHTSA.

Another death has been linked to Takata Corporation’s faulty airbags.

Takata is now in talks with rival airbag maker Daicel Corp to ensure a stable supply of inflators, but no decision has yet been made on the investment into the joint venture.

Takata uses ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion that inflates the air bags in a crash. Ford was the only OEM in the USA that had SDI inflators in a limited number of vehicles that included the 2004-2006 MY Rangers.

Of concern is that tests were previously conducted on several thousand inflators of the type used in the Ford Ranger air bags, and none ruptured or even showed pressure anomalies that would indicate the potential to rupture, Trowbridge said.

June 2015 – Ford expanded its regional recall of 2004-2006 Ranger passenger inflators into a nationwide recall.

Ford says it will send letters to owners about the recall starting the week of February 22.

Toyota, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Nissan told Cars.com they do not plan to add any vehicles as a result of the latest filings.