Mercedes sets aside $560Bn dollars to pay for the Takata Airbag fixes that a large number of its models require.

Daimler said Thursday it would set aside around 500 million euros ($560 million) this year for the recall of some of its vehicles, which contain airbags made by Takata Corp.

The continued issues surrounding the airbag companies failure to get these faulty airbags replaced is becoming a major hindrance to many brands, and the costs associated with this problem is amounting to many billions of Dollars.

Earlier this month the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration disclosed an extension of the Takata airbag recall, which will take place in the period May 2016 to December 2019 in several stages. 

Daimler said that it was not aware of any cases of defect, but that it would make precautionary recalls in the U.S. and Canada.

"Daimler AG will recognize a provision in the mid hundreds of million euros in the financial year 2016 in connection with the extended recall," the company said, adding that it would not have an impact on its operating profit for the year, which is still seen slightly higher than last year.

USA - BMW expands TAKATA Airbag scandal to 420,661 vehicles.

BMW is recalling 420,661 U.S. vehicles due to issues involving Takata airbags, U.S. auto safety regulators said on Thursday. BMW of North America is recalling 20 models from 2002 to 2006 model years that contain Takata driver-side front airbag inflators. Regulators said the airbag module will be replaced.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said BMW examined its production and manufacturing records to determine the scope of affected vehicles and converted an existing national improvement campaign into a voluntary recall, increasing the number of affected vehicles to 420,661 from 140,696.

Takata is at the center of a global recall of tens of millions of cars for potentially deadly airbag inflators that could deploy with too much force and spray metal fragments inside vehicles. Regulators have linked six deaths to the component so far, all on Honda cars.

After months of resisting, Takata last week agreed with the NHTSA to roughly double its U.S.-based recall to 34 million vehicles spanning 11 automakers.

On Thursday Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said it would recall 4,066,732 vehicles from the 2004 to 2011 model years "equipped with a dual-stage driver frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion which, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture," according to a filing by FCA with the NHTSA.

Toyota, Nissan and Honda have expanded their Takata recalls over the past week.

USA - FCA expands TAKATA Airbag scandal to over 5.2 million vehicles.

FCA US LLC has identified which vehicles will be affected by expansions of ongoing voluntary recalls to replace certain air-bag inflators produced by Takata Corporation.

 

Precipitated by disclosures made by Takata to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, FCA US is consolidating two campaigns with new actions affecting model years 2003-2011. These actions bring the Company’s global Takata-related recall total to an estimated 5,224,845 vehicles.

 

FCA US is unaware of any related injuries or accidents involving the newly affected vehicles. All affected customers will be advised when they may schedule service.

 

One campaign involves an estimated global population of 4,747,202 vehicles equipped with certain driver’s-side air-bag inflators. Affected are:

 

• 2004-2008 Dodge Ram 1500 pickups
• 2005-2009 Dodge Ram 2500 pickups
• 2006-2009 Dodge Ram 3500 pickups
• 2008-2010 Dodge Ram 4500 and 5500 cab chassis vehicles
• 2008-2009 Sterling 4500 and 5500 cab chassis vehicles
• 2004-2008 Dodge Durango full-size SUVs
• 2005-2010 Chrysler 300, 300C and SRT8 full-size sedans
• 2005-2010 Dodge Charger full-size sedans
• 2005-2010 Dodge Magnum full-size station wagons
• 2005-2011 Dodge Dakota small pickups
• 2006-2011 Mitsubishi Raider small pickups

Of this population, it is estimated that 4,066,732 vehicles are in the U.S., while 374,508 are in Canada. The remaining vehicles are in Mexico and various markets outside the NAFTA region.

 

This action supersedes an ongoing NHTSA-approved recall involving the same vehicles and expands the affected global population by an estimated 1,407,942 with the addition of model years 2008-2011. Inflators replaced in connection with the previous campaign will again require service.

 

The second action to which FCA US has committed involves replacing certain front-passenger air-bag inflators in model-year 2003 Dodge Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups. An estimated 437,947 are in the U.S.; 38,835 in Canada and 360 are in markets outside the NAFTA region.

 

This recall supplements two ongoing campaigns involving some of the same vehicles in certain U.S. regions subject to high absolute humidity.

 

Certain Takata air-bag inflators may deploy with excessive force, sending debris into the vehicle cabin. Vehicle age and consistent exposure to high absolute humidity are believed to factor into such deployments.

 

The Company is aware of one related injury. It involved a 2006 Dodge Charger and occurred in southern Florida, where there is high absolute humidity.

 

FCA US vehicles are no longer produced with either suspect inflator. These components also are distinct from Takata inflators cited in fatalities involving other auto makers.

USA - Ford expands TAKATA Airbag scandal to over 1.5 million vehicles.

Ford is expanding its safety recalls on vehicles that have certain Takata airbag inflators after Takata declared that those inflators are defective, bringing the total number of Ford vehicles recalled for Takata airbag inflators to 1,509,535 vehicles to date.

This expanded recall follows Takata’s notification to the U.S. NHTSA last week that certain of its airbag inflators are defective, affecting several automakers across the industry. 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 and
• 2004-2006 Ford Rangers built at Twin Cities Assembly for passenger side airbag inflators.

As disclosed in November 2014, Ford is 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. 

A total of 1,490,764 vehicles in North America are now affected by this expanded recall, including 1,380,604 in the United States and federalized territories, 93,207 in Canada and 16,953 in Mexico.

Dealers will replace the airbag inflator at no cost to the customer.

Customers who want to know if their vehicle is included in these recalls can visit www.ford.com  and click on safety recalls at the bottom of the page. Customers can then enter their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to see any open safety, compliance or emissions recalls, as well as customer satisfaction programs.