Toyota and Nissan recall thousand of cars in Ireland

Toyota and Nissan are recalling thousands of cars in Ireland as part of a global recall of 6.5 million vehicles over potentially faulty airbags.

The move is the latest in a series of recalls involving airbag inflators made by Japanese parts supplier Takata.

The Irish recall involves 27,000 Toyotas and 15,500 Nissans.

For Toyota the recall involves 24,000 Corolla, Yaris and Avensis Verso models built between April 2004 and November 2007 for potential issues with passenger airbags and 3,000 Rav4 and Hi-Lux models built between July 2003 and November 2005 for potential issues with driver airbags.

This is the second recall by Toyota in relation to issues with Takata airbags, the first being in April 2013 involving 26,000 Yaris, Corolla and Avensis models. Owners were contacted and the airbags were replaced.

This time Toyota says that owners will be contacted in writing and asked to bring their cars to a Toyota dealership or authorised service centre for inspection.

Nissan said it is recalling 15,500 cars in Ireland as part of a global recall of about 1.56 million cars over the same issue. The vehicles affected are Patrols, Tinos, Almeras, X-Trails, Terrano and D22 pick-ups built between 2004 and 2006. This follows an recall in 2013 of 14,000 Nissans built between 2001 and 2004 over the same potential airbag problem.

BothToyota and Nissan said the recalls were for investigative purposes and that no accidents or injuries had been reported.

It also follows on from major recalls over the same issue by Honda, BMW, Ford, General Motors (owners of the Opel brand in Europe), Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru and Chrysler. In total about 25 million cars have been recalled since since 2008 over Takata air bag inflators that have erupted with too much force, spraying shrapnel inside the car.

Honda also said it was preparing to file additional recalls related to Takata air bags. It did not give any further details.

Asked about the recall, a Takata spokeswoman said a probe into the causes for the air bag defects was ongoing and that the company continued to fully cooperate with the automakers.

Six deaths have so far been linked to the defective Takata airbags, all on cars made by Honda, which announced disappointing profit forecasts last week citing high quality-related costs.

Takata faces multiple class action lawsuits in the United States and Canada as well as a US criminal investigation and a regulatory probe.

- Additional reporting: Reuters