Japanese car giants recall vehicles due to malfunction

Four Japanese carmakers – Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda – are recalling 3.4m vehicles worldwide as a result of an airbag problem, the companies said on Thursday.

Japanese car parts-maker Takata said the company supplied the airbags related to the recalls.

Toyota is recalling 1.73m 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, spokesman Ryo Sakai said.

No injuries or deaths have been reported, he added.

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 declined to give the costs related to the recall.


/The Gusrdian/

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

Takata has been informed that carmakers will recall about 2m vehicles globally due to problems with airbags it had supplied, but not 3.4m, said spokesman Toyohiro Hishikawa. Its shares dropped 9% on Thursday.