34 million vehicles recalled for defective Takata airbags

A Takata employee sews an airbag at Takata's current crash-testing facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Bill Pugliano/ Getty Images

By Megan Turchi @meganturchi

May 19, 2015

1 minute to read

Takata, a Japanese airbag manufacturer, has announced that an estimated 34 million vehicles in the United States using the company’s airbags are defective, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

According to the NHTSA press release, Takata has agreed to a national recall of vehicles with the problematic airbags, which the NHTSA will organize. It is set to become the largest auto recall in history.

The Department of Transportation says the recall affects vehicles manufactured by BMW, Chrysler, Daimler Trucks, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota, as “these inflators were made with a propellant that can degrade over time and has lead to ruptures.’’

The NHTSA has been pushing Takata to recall the cars since late last year after some of the airbags began exploding violently during crashes, leading to six deaths and more than 100 injuries, according to The New York Times.

“Today is a major step forward for public safety,’’ U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement. “The Department of Transportation is taking the proactive steps necessary to ensure that defective inflators are replaced with safe ones as quickly as possible, and that the highest risks are addressed first. We will not stop our work until every air bag is replaced.’’

According to The Detroit News, 17 million vehicles using Takata airbags have already been recalled, so about 17 million more are expected to be announced.

How do you know if your car has been recalled?

The U.S. Department of Transportation has created a website to keep you up to date on the recalls.

The NHTSA does not yet have a list of the vehicles affected by the Takata airbag recall, but once they do you can use the VIN search tool to see if your vehicle is defective.

The NHTSA issued more fines in 2014 than during the rest of the organization’s entire history.