Record-breaking Takata airbag recall expands again
It's been a very busy week in the auto world鈥揳nd it's not over yet.
Over the past few days, the聽聽kicked off in Detroit; Volkswagen's ongoing Dieselgate scandal聽;聽and one of the largest recalls in history鈥搕he one involving聽鈥揳dded hundreds of thousands of vehicles to its repair list.聽
Now, Ford has pushed this week's Takata additions well over the one-million mark. This morning, the automaker said that it was recalling more than 816,000 Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles in North America to replace potentially dangerous airbag inflators.
Recall details
As with the Honda and Acura recall we reported on yesterday, today's action from Ford addresses聽passenger-side airbags. Those devices are equipped with inflators that make use of ammonium nitrate鈥揳 compound that can become highly unstable in the presence of heat and moisture.
When that happens, those inflators can deploy with too much force during collisions, ripping airbags and showering vehicle occupants with hot shrapnel. (For a full explanation of the problem,聽.)听
To date, Takata airbags have been conclusively linked to 16 deaths and well over 100 injuries worldwide. Most of those incidents have occurred in Honda vehicles, which isn't surprising considering that Honda was, until fairly recently,聽.
However, at least聽聽has been killed by the faulty inflators. That incident sparked a new sense of urgency among U.S. regulators and automakers, who subsequently accelerated the pace of recalls. 聽
That brings us to today and Ford's recall of the following makes and models:
- 2007-09 Ford Edge
- 2005-06 Ford GT
- 2006-09 and 2012 Ford Fusion
- 2005-09 and 2012 Ford Mustang
- 2007-09 Ford Ranger
- 2006-09 and 2012 Lincoln Zephyr
- 2007-09 Lincoln MKX
- 2006-09 and 2012 Lincoln MKZ
- 2006-09 Mercury Milan
Despite the aforementioned death of a聽driver聽in a Ford Ranger pickup, Ford says that it has received no reports of聽passengers聽being injured or killed by airbag inflators on the vehicles recalled today.
The recall affects 816,309 vehicles in North America, 654,695 of which are registered in the U.S. and 161,174 of which are registered in Canada. Owners of those vehicles will receive recall notices from Ford by mail. The notices will explain when and how owners should schedule service with their local dealers. According to Ford, that service will involve replacement of the passenger-side frontal airbag inflator鈥揳 fix that will be carried out at no charge to owners.
If you own one of the vehicles listed above and have further questions, Ford has set up a special聽聽on its website, where you can find answers to some of the most common questions about Takata airbags and the recall.
To find out whether your vehicle is included in today's recall鈥搊r any other Ford recall, for that matter鈥搗isit the聽聽for owners聽and enter your car's vehicle identification number in the search bar at the bottom of the page. Those who prefer communicating by phone can also call Ford's customer service line at 800-392-3673 and ask about safety recall聽#17S01.
This story originally appeared on .
