Japanese automakers recalling 3.4 million vehicles worldwide

Tokyo, April 11 – Four Japanese automakers including Toyota Motor Corp, Nissan Motor Co and Honda Motor Co are recalling a total of about 3.4 million vehicles worldwide as a result of an airbag problem, the companies said on Thursday.    

Toyota is recalling about 1.73 million vehicles globally, including 580,000 vehicles in North America and 490,000 vehicles in Europe because some airbags at the front seat next to the driver may not inflate when necessary, Takata Corp spokesman Ryo Sakai said.

No injuries or deaths have been reported, he said. Toyota will exchange the faulty inflator with new ones, a fix that is expected to take about an hour to two and a half hours for most models, he said. He declined to give the costs related to the recall.

Honda said it is recalling around 1.14 million vehicles worldwide. Similarly Nissan  is recalling about 480,000 vehicles globally, while Mazda Motor Corp said it is recalling about 45,500 vehicles.

Takata has been informed that carmakers will recall about 2 million vehicles globally due to problems with airbags it had supplied, but not 3.4 million, said Hishikawa. Its shares dropped 9 percent to 1,819 yen on Thursday.