This morning the United States Senate Commerce Committee released another report as part of their investigation of Japanese airbag manufacturer Takata, which revealed that 2.1 million new vehicles have recently been sold with defective airbags.
According to the Report, “Fiat Chrysler, Mitsubishi, Toyota and Volkswagen all admitted to equipping some new vehicles with non-desiccated ammonium-nitrate inflators that have been found to be the cause of airbag ruptures linked to as many as 13 deaths and 100 injuries worldwide.” The Report identifies the following specific models as:
- 2016 Mitsubishi i-MiEV
- 2017 Mitsubishi i-MiEV
- 2016 Volkswagen CC
- 2016 Audi TT
- 2017 Audi R8
This shocking development is just another chapter in the seemingly surreal Takata airbag story which continues to unfold. Under an unprecedented deal Takata cut three weeks ago with the NHTSA, Takata has been given until the end of 2019 before it has to recall all of the 70 million vehicles which it has identified as having defective airbags. Until that time it’s impossible for consumers to find out if their vehicle has a defective airbag which will need to be replaced.