American Honda today expanded its January 2012 recall of 2012 Accord and Crosstour vehicles to replace a side-curtain airbag assembly to include additional vehicles. Also newly added to the safety recall were 2012 Honda Civic and Acura MDX vehicles, increasing the total recall size to 974 affected vehicles. At the time of the original recall, Honda said in the required filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it was still investigating, and more vehicles could ultimately be involved.
Last week NHTSA fined BMW of North America and its German parent company $3 million for not reporting safety defects promptly. It was the second highest fine in history after Toyota paid almost $50 million in 2010 for not disclosing safety defects promptly.
While this recall appears relatively minor, another Honda airbag recall at the end of 2011 was not. That was when Honda once again expanded a recall covering the driver’s side airbag installed on its most popular cars, crossovers and minivans built in 2001 and 2002. The ongoing global safety defect has now resulted in recalls in North America, Japan, Australia and other regions. Millions of defective Honda and Acura vehicles are now affected this manufacturing flaw.
It is a common automaker practice to try to limit the scope of a recall to the fewest number of vehicles possible to limit costs and damage to brand reputations. However, in Honda’s case this is now the sixth time Japan’s third largest automaker admitted that it had found defects in Honda and Acura vehicles it previously claimed were safe, a public relations disaster on top of a genuine safety problem.
This Honda airbag safety defect has severe consequences. The failure is also in the airbag’s inflation system that, potentially, can send pieces of metal – shrapnel – into the interior when the airbag explodes. At least one person has been killed and others injured.
Initially, Honda only recalled 4,200 vehicles three years ago and ignored vehicles in the rest of the world. This Honda safety defect problem was unfolding as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was investigating and ultimately fining Toyota for its safety defect cover-ups.
it appears that Honda is experiencing something similar to Toyota’s quality meltdown. During the past year or so, Honda has issued more than 24 public statements about various safety defects and recalls in the U.S. The question remains will NHTSA fine Honda, absent the high profile, highly critical Congressional hearings that Toyota and NHTSA endured, or the egregious behavior of BMW that NHTSA just called out?.
In the latest airbag recall, a defective side-curtain airbag inflator from a Utah AutoLiv plant is responsible for a Toyota recall on 2011 RAV4 models and the original Honda recall on 2012 Accord and Crosstour models. Both the driver and passenger side airbags are affected by the manufacturing defect.
The problem first showed up in China at a Takata plant when the explosive propellant that inflates the airbag failed an incoming batch test. Due to the international nature of the supply chain, the safety defect also affected plants in Mexico, Canada and the U.S.
See also:
- AutoLiv Airbag Inflator Causes Honda and Toyota Recalls
- Honda Recalls 1.5 Million Accord, CR-V and Element for Software Problem that Leads to Failed Auto Transmissions
- Honda Recalls New Civic for Fuel Leaks in Latest Quality Gaffe
- Honda Expands Airbag Recall to 833,000 Honda, Acura Models
- Honda Recalls 2011 Odyssey Again. Window Glass Can Shatter
- Honda Recalls Odyssey Minivan for Bad Windshield Wipers
- Honda Recalls Civic Hybrid Models for Electrical Failures
- American Honda Recalls 2009-2010 Fit Models for Stalling
- American Honda Recalls 2010 Accord, CR-V Models for Stalling
- Honda Recalls Accord, Pilot Models for Suspension Failures
- Honda Passport SUVs Recalled for Wheels Falling Off
- American Honda Recalls Fit for Headlight Failures
