Roy Cokayne
HUNDREDS of Nissan, Toyota and Honda vehicles in South Africa are affected by the global recall of 3.4 million vehicles by four Japanese motor manufacturers because airbags provided by a supplier are at risk of catching fire or injuring passengers.
The largest recall for airbags made by Takata, the second-largest global supplier of airbags and seatbelts, was announced last week.
The recall includes vehicles from Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda.
Reuters reported last week that Toyota, Honda and Nissan said no injuries or deaths had been reported because of the defective airbags and the recall mostly affected vehicles in North America, Europe and Japan.
However, Nissan South Africa spokeswoman Veralda Schmidt said the recall affected 694 vehicles sold in South Africa, largely Nissan Patrol and Nissan X-Trail models, all produced between 2000 and 2004.
Schmidt said Nissan SA would contact customers affected by the recall in the next 30 days to advise them to take their vehicles to their nearest dealer where the faulty part would be replaced at no cost to the customer.
Toyota South Africa Motors spokesman Leo Kok said only Corolla models manufactured between 2000 and 2004 were affected by the recall. However, he said, not all Corolla units produced in this period were affected because airbags had been sourced from several suppliers.
Kok said Toyota SA could not quantify how many Corolla units were affected and it was going through its manufacturing database to determine which units were affected. He expected to have this information by next week.
Toyota SA produced about 120 000 Corolla units in this period, of which about 60 000 were sold in the South African market and the balance exported, Kok added.
He said it would take an hour and a half to replace the faulty part, which would be done at no cost to the owners, and Toyota SA would contact these owners directly.
Joeline Dabrowski, a spokeswoman for Honda Motor Southern Africa, said a small number of Honda units in South Africa were affected by the recall. It involved 1 047 Honda Civic units manufactured between 2001 and 2003 and 121 Honda CR-V models manufactured between 2002 and 2003. She said the recall was a precaution, adding that Honda had not received reports of injuries related to the faulty airbags.
Owners of affected vehicles would be contacted by letter requesting them to make an appointment with their Honda dealer. Customers with queries could contact Honda Motor Southern Africa on 0800 466321 or e-mail [email protected].
Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa spokeswoman Rella Bernardes said none of its South African customers were affected by the recall of some Mazda models.
Airbags were rolled out broadly in the mid-1980s and the early 1990s, and are now required in most developed countries, with many vehicles offering multiple airbags.
Takata said it was aware of only six cases where an inflator ruptured in vehicles in the field. Four were in the US and two in Japan, as well as six cases in salvage yards in Japan, according to US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents.