Toyota is preparing for a new round of recall that will involve an additional 190,000 vehicles which are said to have defective air bags made by Takata Corp. 185,000 of these vehicles would be in Japan while 5,000 would be in China.
Toyota has decided to conduct the recall after it has learned about the latest problem on air bags found in some Toyota vehicles. The issue was about the sudden rupturing of passenger-side air bags when they are intentionally deployed while being scrapped. Under the Japanese law, such scrapping of vehicles is deemed as a routine procedure.
The recall involves those cars made from September 2002 up to December 2003. The affected car models include Voxy, Corolla, Noah, Mark II and Will.
"We decided to conduct a recall campaign as a precautionary measure and replace the inflator with a new one to help minimize potential risk to customers and to investigate the possible root cause through tests on the replaced part," said Toyota.
So far, the air bags from Takata have been linked to five deaths that were recorded in the U.S. and Malaysia. According to the report, the airbags exploded too strong that caused metal shards to be sprayed inside the cars.
Toyota spokesman Naoki Sumino said that the airbags placed on the driver's side in the affected models didn't have to be recalled because they were not made by Takata.
Last month, a Takata-made air bag in a 2003 Toyota subcompact exploded at a scrapyard in Japan. Toyota said that those air bags were made at Takata's factory in Monclova, Mexico.
As a result, the government of Mexico wanted Takata to identify the car models which have used the defective air bags. The Japanese company is given until Friday to give in to the request.
In the meantime, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is pushing for a nationwide recall of the affected vehicles. It should be noted that most of the recalls had focused on areas with highly humid temperatures such as the Gulf Coast. Evidence shows that moisture can trigger the propellant in the air bags which eventually causes the inflators to burn rapidly.
Takata insisted that the recall should be carried out by automakers and not by suppliers. However, the company promised to fully cooperate with the automakers once they decide to conduct the recalls.
