General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) claims that Takata Airbags are now safe enough to be fitted into motor vehicles, but the government seems to think otherwise.
The highway safety agency feels that the Takata airbags still pose a huge degree of risk. The decision of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration means General Motors will have to continue recalling more of its automobiles that were fitted with the Takata airbags. The continued recall will bring the total of the affected trucks to 1.9 million. It affects models manufactured from 2007 to 2011.
Six other automotive manufacturers have been affected by the Takata airbag recalls bringing the total number of vehicles recalled over the airbag matter to 4.4 million. The recalls are part of the huge round of Takata recalls that was announced in May, thus adding to the original recall. This means that the largest auto recall in history became bigger; bringing the total of recalled air bag inflators thought to be defective to 35 million to 40 million. The recall has affected 17 vehicle manufacturers in total.
A report released on Wednesday regarding the matter states that Mitsubishi, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE:FCAU), Volkswagen and Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE:TM) admitted that they used Takata Airbags that were fitted with the same inflators that were claimed to be faulty. The regulators stated that car buyers are still purchasing new vehicles not knowing that the vehicles will be recalled.
The report also noted that the rate of recalls is still low, and the rate of completion for every vehicle manufacturer was around 0.16% to 57.1% as of May 20. The NHTSA stated that the inflators used in the newer models had a higher degree of safety as opposed to the earlier models that were previously recalled. The authorities, however, want the recalls to continue until 2019. Takata has therefore been given until the end of 2019 to carry out a recall of the 70 million automobiles that were identified to harbor defective airbags.