29.05.2015, 02:29

Honda Perspectives: Plain Speaking on the Takata Defect Announcement

OREANDA-NEWS. May 29, 2015. Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced a formal defect determination by Takata related to front airbag inflators installed in vehicles from more than 10 automakers.

While the headlines that followed focused on the millions of vehicles potentially involved, regrettably, most drivers are still unable to determine if their own car is included. I would like to set the record straight about the impact of this latest announcement on Honda and Acura owners, and the actions we are taking to meet their needs.

Honda has initiated several recalls and safety improvement campaigns related to Takata airbag inflators over the past six months. As a result, the vast majority of Honda and Acura vehicles impacted by last week’s announcement were already covered by past recalls or safety improvement campaigns. In fact, many of these vehicles have already been repaired – we've replaced nearly two-million inflators since 2013, most of those in the last nine months alone. Thus, no new driver’s side airbag inflator recalls will be added.

We will, however, add approximately 350,000 vehicles to the existing passenger airbag inflator recall, bringing the total number of Honda and Acura vehicles recalled – inclusive of driver and passenger – to approximately 6.28 million. No Honda or Acura vehicles model year 2012 or later have been recalled.

Despite the additions, we remain committed to repairing vehicles at a rate unprecedented in our company's history. We now have four suppliers who are manufacturing replacement parts: Autoliv, Daicel, Takata and TRW. Due to a significant effort involving our dealers, in recent weeks, we have averaged more than 50,000 repairs per week and have cut the total number of backordered replacement inflators in half, eliminating the backorder altogether for some models.

For any affected owner who does experience a delay, Honda and Acura dealers continue to offer alternative transportation at no cost. More than 60,000 such customers have received loaner or rental vehicles since May 2014.

The specific VINs associated with the approximately 350,000 vehicles we are adding are in the process of being identified, verified and uploaded, so customers should continue checking their vehicles' current recall status by visiting www.recalls.honda.com for Honda owners or www.recalls.acura.com for Acura owners. Customers may also call 1-800-999-1009 for Honda or 1-800-382-2238 for Acura, and press option 4. It may be a few weeks before all vehicles are uploaded, so customers are urged to continue checking.

Please know that Honda is working diligently, on many fronts, to determine a root cause associated with Takata airbag inflator ruptures. The safety of our customers remains our top priority, and we will not rest until this matter is fully resolved.

Overall Summary of All Models Affected by One or More Takata Airbag Inflator recall or SIC (certain specific models only):