Continental Automotive Systems Recalls Air-bag Controls Installed in 5 Million Vehicles

Honda, meanwhile, said it would recall roughly 341,000 2008-2010 Accord sedans in the U.S.to replace an electronic-control unit susceptible to moisture that can lead to corrosion and eventual malfunction, causing an air bag to fail to deploy.

Last year, Mercedes recalled 126,260 C-Class cars from 2008 and 2009 and 2010 GLK350 vehicles. It has added 2.2 million vehicles to its fleet of late-model cars that are installed with potentially defective airbags. But the defect – which can cause airbags to over-inflate and spew shrapnel into the passenger compartment – has now forced the recall of more than 20 million vehicles by at least 10 manufacturers in the USA alone.

The latest addition to the recall signifies how both the auto companies are still struggling to comprehend the true scope of the airbag issue that has haunted Honda for months at end.

The U.S. safety investigation is still under way.

Autoblog reports that the problem is that several vehicles carry the Takata PSDI-5 airbag inflator on the driver’s side, and this part could rupture if the airbag deploys. In the past Honda has said it will provide loaner vehicles for owners with vehicles under Takata recall if parts are not yet available; that also could be the case with this expansion.

Net income climbed to 8.1 billion yen ($69 million) in the quarter through December from 2.8 billion yen a year earlier, on the back of higher sales in the USA and Asia, Takata said Friday. However, due to the large volume of new parts needed to fix affected units, the necessary parts will not be available until Fall 2016. In addition to being hit by Continental’s recall, it was the hardest-hit manufacturer in the Takata recall. Until the vehicles are identified, customers won’t be able to use Honda’s and NHTSA’s online databases to check their vehicle identification numbers for the recall.

Not all the cars in these model years will be included in the recall.

Defective Takata inflators have been linked to nine US deaths since 2004, all but one of them in older Honda vehicles. Despite an aggressive campaign, Honda brand boss Jeff Conrad told TheDetroitBureau.com that only about 50 percent of the vehicles Honda had targeted prior to this week’s recall have so far been repaired.

Just when you thought Honda is done with the Takata air bag issue, it announced another round of major vehicle recall.