Takata Airbag Recall Impacts Electric And Luxury Sports Cars As Well

In a new list of the Takata airbag recall included two auto luxury brands and brings the total of 19 brands part of the recall.

Updated: Saturday, December 10, 2016, 16:35 [IST]

Cars manufactured by electric automaker Tesla Motors and Britain's McLaren is now included in the long list of recall by airbag manufacturer Takata, said the US Transportation Department.

Takata Airbag Recall Impacts Electric And Luxury Sports Cars As Well

The auto brands have been listed on the new recall by the department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, bringing the total of brands affected by the recall to 19. This includes auto majors Toyota, Volkswagen, Chevrolet, Ford, Honda and Nissan.

Takata has been recalling car fitted with its airbags as the defective airbag parts have been responsible for 11 deaths and nearly 180 injuries in the U.S.

The Transportation Department said that as of December 2, 2016, 12.5 million of the passenger and driver-side airbags have been fixed and the NHTSA has issued an amended order to continue to increase the recall.

As per NHTSA, the Takata airbag recall is the most complex and largest defective product recall ever conducted in the U.S. and when done it will cover nearly 42 million affected vehicles.

Takata serves nearly 20 percent of the market for airbags and seatbelts in the auto industry, has been embroiled for more than two years by the airbag controversy including 70 million in the U.S. alone.

Some of the airbags in the recent years have activated following minor crashes, causing injuries and about 15 people in the world have died in such accidents.

The actual cause of the malfunctions has not been found, but three possible factors are being suspected: a chemical component, ammonium nitrate, which respondpoorly to humidity, faulty design and extreme climate conditions.