Toyota To Recall 2.3 Million Cars Hit By Airbag Snag

Less than a month after The Inquisitr reported that Toyota recalled nearly half a million cars due to various manufacturing defects, we have some fresh news coming in. According to the NY Times, the Japanese automobile major announced that it will recall a staggering 2.3 million vehicles worldwide for potential airbag related defects.

In the US alone, as many as 766,000 Toyota cars have been affected by the problem and will be recalled. According to Toyota, a defective airbag could possibly injure passengers in the event of an airbag deployment. Many of the vehicles involved in the previous Toyota recalls are also included in the list of cars affected by this snag and will be recalled for a second time.

Many of the Toyota vehicles affected by the fault are over a decade old. The cars affected in the US include the 2003-4 Toyota Corolla, the Toyota Matrix and the Toyota Tundra, the 2002-4 Toyota Sequoia sport utility vehicle and the 2002-4 Lexus SC 430 luxury coupe.

All of these cars use a defective device that contains the propellant that inflates the airbag. Manufactured by the Takata corporation, the inflator has been found to be faulty and could crack at the time of deployment – sending metal fragments into the passenger compartment. It could also cause “thermal damage” to the vehicle’s instrument console. Toyota isn’t the only company that has been affected by these defective inflators.

This is not the first time Takata inflators have caused a product recall. In 2013, Honda, Mazda and Nissan issued similar product recalls that affected over 1.4 million vehicles in the United States alone, says The Globe And Mail.

Back in October 2013, Takata Corporation agreed to pay a fine of $71.3 million in order to settle antitrust allegations that were brought by the United States Justice Department. A Takata official in the US was also sentenced to 14 months in prison, and a fine of $20,000, on a felony price fixing charges for seat belts sold by the company.

Toyota did not have a great 2013-14. Last year, the company recalled 170,000 of its vehicles in April to inspect for various problems. Toyota’s arch-rival, General Motors, also had a terrible 2014 for product recalls.

Do you own a Toyota vehicle affected by this snag and were you affected by the earlier Toyota product recalls?

[Image via blog.autoshopper.com]