TOKYO: Honda said it would recall millions more cars equipped with air bags made by crisis-hit supplier Takata, in a widening of a scandal that has already led to the biggest auto recall in US history.
The announcement came as Honda, Takata’s top air bag client, warned its full-year net profit dropped by a third as it wrestles with mounting costs linked to an air bag defect blamed for at least 13 deaths and scores of injuries.
“On top of the 30 million Takata air bags already announced for a recall, we are going to recall an additional 21 million units globally,” a Honda spokesman in Tokyo said.
Takata is struggling to deal with a defect that can fire metal and plastic shrapnel from the air bag’s inflator canister hurtling toward drivers and passengers when its deployed.
The Tokyo-based auto parts giant has been hit by lawsuits and regulatory probes over claims it hid flaws in its air bags for years. The scandal has affected about a dozen global automaker clients, also including Toyota and Volkswagen.
Investigators increasingly suspect that the chemical used to inflate Takata air bags can be unstable, especially in hot and humid conditions, and cause the inflator canister to rupture.
On Friday, Honda said its net profit in the fiscal year to March was down 32 percent from a year ago to 344.5 billion yen ($3.2 billion), which it blamed mainly on “quality-related costs” linked to the air bag crisis.
“We had thought that Honda was turning the corner on the negative impact of the air bag accidents but it appears to be hanging around,” said Shigeru Matsumura, analyst at SMBC Friend Research Center.
Takata this week logged an annual net loss of $120 million as US auto safety regulators order a mounting number of recalls to deal with the problem.
Last week, Honda said two people died in Malaysia after Takata-made air bag inflators exploded, raising the global death toll to 13.
Most of the fatalities have been in the US, including a Texas teenager who died in March after her 2002 Honda Civic collided with another car, activating a defective Takata air bag.
“The science clearly shows that these inflators become unsafe over time, faster when exposed to humidity and variations of temperature,” the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said last week.
The announcement came as Honda, Takata’s top air bag client, warned its full-year net profit dropped by a third as it wrestles with mounting costs linked to an air bag defect blamed for at least 13 deaths and scores of injuries.
“On top of the 30 million Takata air bags already announced for a recall, we are going to recall an additional 21 million units globally,” a Honda spokesman in Tokyo said.
Takata is struggling to deal with a defect that can fire metal and plastic shrapnel from the air bag’s inflator canister hurtling toward drivers and passengers when its deployed.
The Tokyo-based auto parts giant has been hit by lawsuits and regulatory probes over claims it hid flaws in its air bags for years. The scandal has affected about a dozen global automaker clients, also including Toyota and Volkswagen.
Investigators increasingly suspect that the chemical used to inflate Takata air bags can be unstable, especially in hot and humid conditions, and cause the inflator canister to rupture.
On Friday, Honda said its net profit in the fiscal year to March was down 32 percent from a year ago to 344.5 billion yen ($3.2 billion), which it blamed mainly on “quality-related costs” linked to the air bag crisis.
“We had thought that Honda was turning the corner on the negative impact of the air bag accidents but it appears to be hanging around,” said Shigeru Matsumura, analyst at SMBC Friend Research Center.
Takata this week logged an annual net loss of $120 million as US auto safety regulators order a mounting number of recalls to deal with the problem.
Last week, Honda said two people died in Malaysia after Takata-made air bag inflators exploded, raising the global death toll to 13.
Most of the fatalities have been in the US, including a Texas teenager who died in March after her 2002 Honda Civic collided with another car, activating a defective Takata air bag.
“The science clearly shows that these inflators become unsafe over time, faster when exposed to humidity and variations of temperature,” the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said last week.
