Japan's Three Top Carmakers To Expand Recalls By Millions

Japan's three biggest carmakers said on May 12 they would expand a huge global recall triggered by potentially fatal air bags made by Takata Corp, saying they were taking back millions of vehicles worldwide for investigation.Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co. said they were recalling some 6.5 million vehicles globally. Honda Motor Co. Ltd. later followed suit, tacking on another five million vehicles to be recalled.

The announcements raise to roughly 36 million the number of vehicles recalled worldwide since 2008 over Takata air bag inflators, which can erupt with too much force, spraying shrapnel inside the car..

Asked about the latest recalls, a Takata spokeswoman said a probe into the causes for the air bag defects was ongoing and that the company continued to cooperate with the automakers.

Six deaths have been linked to the defective Takata airbags, all on cars made by Honda, which announced disappointing profit forecasts last week citing high quality-related costs. Toyota and Nissan said their recalls were precautionary and that no accidents or injuries had been reported. They did not give further details about the suspected defects, but in documents submitted to Japan's transport ministry, the automakers said they had identified problems with inflators that were not sufficiently sealed and that were at risk of allowing in moisture during extended use.

Toyota, Japan's biggest automaker, said it would recall just under five million Corolla, Vitz, and other models, mostly in Japan and Europe. Many of the models were built between March 2003 and November 2007, and include 1.36 million to be recalled in Japan. Nissan said it was recalling about 1.56 million cars globally over the same issue. It did not give further details about the models affected.

Honda will inspect and, if necessary, replace airbags in 4.89 million vehicles sold around the world. Honda, which has a financial relationship with Takata as part of its closely linked supplier network, has had the largest number of vehicles impacted by the airbag problem.

Daihatsu, meanwhile, will recall 260,000 vehicles sold in Japan.

Takata faces multiple class action lawsuits in the United States and Canada as well as a U.S. criminal investigation and a regulatory probe.

The company said in early-May it expects to return to profit in the business year started in April even though it has made few provisions for costs related to the massive global recall.