said Tuesday that it’s further expanding a massive recall of 2001 and
2002 models to include more than 800,000 vehicles sold in the U.S., due
to lingering concerns about malfunctioning airbags.
Over a year ago, Honda announced a plan to recall
less than 4,000 Accord and Civic models from model year 2001, to
replace the driver’s side airbag inflator. At the time, the company
cited four instances where airbag deployments had ruptured airbag
inflators.
In July, Honda responded to reports of two
additional incidents, including a fatality, by expanding the recall to
include 440,000 model year 2001 and 2002 Accord, Civic and Acura TL
vehicles.
Honda said in a statement Tuesday that it’s now
expanding that recall to include 378,578 model 2001 and 2002 vehicles
in the U.S., while adding versions of the 2002 Pilot and Acura CL.
While Honda said it’s not aware of additional incidents following the
recall, “we have concluded that we cannot be completely certain that
the driver’s airbag inflator in the vehicles being added to this recall
at this time will perform as designed.”
Honda said it’s encouraging owners of affected vehicles to take them to authorized dealers.
“The driver’s airbag inflator could produce
excessive internal pressure, which may cause the airbag inflator casing
to rupture, resulting in metal fragments passing through the airbag
cushion material and possibly causing injury or fatality to vehicle
occupants,” Honda said.
Honda’s announcement comes shortly after rival
—
(c) 2010, MarketWatch.com Inc.
Visit MarketWatch on the Web at http://www.marketwatch.com
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
