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TencentSecurities News, January 23, Japan's two largest automakersToyota(Toyota) andHonda(Honda) today announced the recall of millions of cars due to safety-related issues.
Toyota said it will recall 3.4 million vehicles, 2.9 million of which are in the US, due to potential defects in equipment used to protect passengers in the event of a crash. The models affected in the North American, Central and South American markets in this recall include some of the Corolla, Corolla Matrix, Avalon, and Avalon HV series produced between 2010 and 2019.
According to Toyota, the recall is mainly due to the fact that these models may be equipped with a defective electronic control unit (ECU), which is designed to protect passengers in the event of a car accident. According to the news, this device should communicate with the car's sensors to trigger the airbag and seat belt tensioner in case of danger.
However, Toyota said this week that it has learned that the ECUs in these vehicles may not work properly due to certain noises. These noises may interfere with connections between devices, causing the airbags or seat belt tensioners to be incomplete or even undeployed.
The company plans to notify all affected car owners in the US by mid-March that these owners will be required to have their vehicles inspected at Toyota dealerships. If necessary, Toyota will provide a new noise filter to help mitigate the sensor's communication issues.
Takada airbag nightmare
Meanwhile, the recall announced by Honda this time is another headache faced by Japanese airbag manufacturer Takata (Takata).
In a statement, Honda said it will recall 2.7 million vehicles, including 2.4 million in the US and 300,000 in Canada. The automaker said that some Acuras models produced between 1996 and 2003 may have faulty Takata airbag inflators.
However, the company also stressed that this issue had nothing to do with Takada's previous large-scale safety scandal, which involved the risk that the airbag inflator pump might explode, be underinflated, or spew shrapnel into passengers. This problem eventually led to the Japanese airbag manufacturer filing for bankruptcy and issuing the largest automobile recall notice in history.
In that large-scale recall, 34 car brands were affected, starting withFerrariTo Ford, to Jaguar Land Rover, Lexus, andTeslaNo one will be spared. According to the Australian Government, the scandal has had fatal consequences and has been linked to at least 29 deaths and hundreds of injuries worldwide.
Honda is now calling on the car owners involved to be inspected as soon as possible, but it also said that it may not be able to help in the short term. The automaker said that due to a lack of “replaceable replacement parts,” free inspections or repairs will not begin until about a year later. (Drew)