Toyota recalls 5.8m vehicles worldwide to replace airbags

Toyota has recalled about 5.8 million vehicles worldwide to replace Takata airbags, the latest in a series of repairs phased over the coming years linked to safety devices behind 17 deaths.

The recalls include about 1.47 million vehicles in Europe and 1.16 million in Japan, a Toyota representative said.

Regulators in the United States and Japan earlier this year ordered recalls of all Takata airbags lacking a drying agent meant to keep the propellant in its inflators from misfiring and causing ruptures that spray bits of metal into the passenger compartment.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in May more than doubled what was already the biggest auto recall in US history, ordering the replacement of as many as 40 million additional airbags in phases scheduled through 2019.

Japan’s transport ministry followed suit, with recalls in Tokyo-based Takata’s domestic market eventually reaching about 19.6 million.

– (Bloomberg)