Mazda South Africa has expanded its Takata airbag recall campaign that affects certain Mazda2, Mazda6 and RX-8s.
According to the importer, an additional 19 000 units are affected locally, and they are cars produced from 2003 onwards and with VIN numbers starting with MM6DE, JM6GG and JMZSE. These are models fitted with PSDI-4 and SDI-160 driver side airbags as well as passenger airbags with SPI, SDI-230 and PSPI designations.
If you suspect that your vehicle might be affected, Mazda says you can either contact one of its dealers, phone its customer care centre on 0860 069 700 or email [email protected].
"The recall is due to an inappropriate production condition and storage of the propellant in the inflator," said Mazda.
"The density of the propellant may be insufficient in the inflator. This might cause the propellant to ignite abnormally at the time of airbag deployment and potentially result in extremely high inner pressure of the inflator causing a rupture of the inflator case. In a case of a rupture, the airbag might not deploy as designed and may lead to injury."
Mazda's dealer will replace the affected inflators with "improved" units.