Stellantis says 276,000 autos still have deadly Takata airbags

Stellantis says 276,000 autos still have deadly Takata airbags

Stellatis urged consumers to immediately bring in recalled older vehicles with Takata airbags
Stellatis urged consumers to immediately bring in recalled older vehicles with Takata airbags. Photo: JOE RAEDLE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/Getty Images via AFP/File
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Briefly News on your News Feed!

Automaker Stellantis said Thursday it is redoubling outreach to US owners of about 276,000 vehicles with dangerous Takata airbags that have been recalled but were never repaired.

The autos in question were model year 2005-2010 model year Dodge Magnum station wagons, Dodge Challenger coupes, and Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 sedans, according to a press release from FCA, a Stellantis brand.

The company said it has sent nearly 210 million standard and first-class letters, while also texting consumers and making phone calls and home visits.

"The longer these particular vehicles remain unrepaired, the greater the risk of an air-bag rupture, in event of a crash," the company said. "Free replacement driver-side air bags have been available for this population since 2015.

"Many owners say they don't have time to obtain the remedy. However, the repair procedure takes well under one hour."

Read also

'Hazardous' smog chokes India's capital

The company is aware of three fatalities in the last seven months in the United States in warm-weather states involving these vehicles, a Stellantis spokesman said.

PAY ATTENTION: Never miss breaking news – join Briefly News' Telegram channel!

The unrepaired vehicles constitute about 20 percent of the total vehicle population. The rest have been successfully recalled and repaired, the spokesman said.

A 2017 survey by the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute cited three top reasons consumers ignore recalls: worry that a dealership will try to sell more repairs; difficulty giving up their vehicle for a repair; and perception the wait to get it fixed was too long.

The Takata brand disappeared in 2018 following a bankruptcy in the wake of the airbag scandal, which affected almost every major global automaker, including Toyota and General Motors, and triggered the auto industry's biggest-ever safety recall.

The airbag defect was linked to ammonium nitrate, the chemical used as a propellant in Takata's airbag inflator canisters.

Read also

Plea from Ukraine first lady kicks off annual tech summit in Portugal

The chemical degraded, especially in humid conditions, meaning that in some cases the airbag did not inflate properly and sometimes ruptured, firing metal shrapnel at the vehicle's occupants.

In the United States alone, there have been 19 deaths and at least 400 alleged injuries due to exploding Takata airbags.

PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ find the “Recommended for you” block on the home page and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.