By Alan Ohnsman and Tetsuya Komatsu Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) — Honda Motor Co ., Japan’s second- largest automaker, will recall 437,763 vehicles globally to repair air bags that can deploy with too much pressure, adding to previous U.S. recalls for the same defect. The expansion covers 378,758 vehicles in the U.S., Honda said in a statement late yesterday. The Tokyo-based carmaker will recall about 4,000 cars and minivans in Japan, it said in a filing to the nation’s Transport Ministry today. The recall expansion heightens safety scrutiny of Japan’s largest automakers. Honda’s biggest competitor, Toyota Motor Corp. , is working to reassure customers after recalling more than 8 million vehicles worldwide to fix problems linked to unintended acceleration and brake failures. “Because of the Toyota recalls, Honda’s action is getting a lot of attention, but it’s not fundamentally a big deal,” said Mamoru Kato , an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center in Nagoya, Japan. “Recalls are kind of an everyday thing.” Honda fell 0.2 percent to 3,055 yen as of the 11 a.m. trading break in Tokyo. The company knows of one death and 12 incidents related to the air-bag defect, John Mendel , Honda’s U.S. executive vice president, said in a conference call. “The air bag produces excessive internal pressure, and there’s a risk of some metal shards coming through. That could cause injury.” Takata Corp. U.S. vehicles to be repaired include some 2001 and 2002 Accord and Civic cars, Odyssey minivans, CR-V sport-utility vehicles and 2002 Acura TL cars. An initial U.S. recall in November 2008 included 4,600 Accords and Civics, and another 440,000 of those cars and some Acura TLs were added in July. In Japan, Honda is recalling Inspire and Saber cars and Lagreat minivans, the carmaker said in today’s filing. Mendel said some vehicles in Canada and other markets would also be affected by the action, without elaborating. The air bags were made by Tokyo-based Takata Corp. , according to Honda. Takata shares fell 1.6 percent to 1,890 yen. Honda’s U.S. operations are based in Torrance, California. To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net
Read more here:
Honda to Recall 437,763 Vehicles Globally to Fix Air Bags After Injuries
