 WASHINGTON - Honda told a House subcommittee Wednesday it will expand its regional recall of possibly faulty Takata driver-side airbags to a nationwide recall. Yet Takata told the same House panel it won't comply with a direct demand to initiate such a recall, issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Honda said Takata's refusal spurred its decision to take action nationwide. Honda is Takata's biggest customer in the U.S. Of the 8 million recalled vehicles with Takata bags, about 5 million are Honda products. Honda's promise has no immediate effect, however. There are not enough replacement driver's bags to fix all the vehicles at once. Instead, Honda said it will continue to focus on fixing models in high-humidity locations, where the problem seems worst. Chrysler Group, meantime, on Wednesday expanded a Takata passenger airbag recall to five more states and three more U.S. territories after a scolding letter from NHTSA over the limited area and "slow pace" of the recall. Chrysler filed the official recall announcement with NHTSA on Wednesday and says there will be enough parts to fix all the vehicles. Some Takata bags - both driver-side and passenger-side - have faulty inflators that can deploy the air bags with too much force. That can rip the bags loose from their housings and blast shrapnel into vehicle occupants. Subcommittee member Billy Long, R-Mo., likened it to driving while having a shotgun pointed at you. Five deaths have been linked to... |
