Australia Recalls Remaining Vehicles With Takata Airbags

The Australian motor industry is vowing to move “heaven and earth” to comply after the country’s government ordered the compulsory recall of all 2.3 million vehicles still fitted with Takata airbags.

Assistant Treasury Minister Michael Sukkar ordered the first-ever compulsory recall of vehicles in Australia after a safety investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The recall includes vehicles made by Ford, GM Holden, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda.

It is in addition to existing voluntary recalls by BMW, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ferrari, GMC, Honda, Jeep, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Volvo and Hino Trucks.

The compulsory recall places requirements on automakers, dealers, importers and other suppliers to ensure Takata airbags are located and replaced as quickly as possible, with Sukkar calling them “an immediate and critical safety risk.”

All defective Takata airbags must be replaced by Dec. 31, 2020, with priority of replacement given to airbags based on a range of factors including age and exposure to heat and humidity.

The airbag replacement is free, and manufacturers have until April 3 to provide details of the additional recalled vehicles to the ACCC.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries CEO Tony Weber says the safety of customers is the utmost priority and the industry will comply with the conditions set down in the legislation.

The voluntary recall has shown there are significant issues in getting the affected vehicles rectified, Weber says.

“Our brands have numerous cases where they have made phone calls and sent multiple letters to affected vehicle owners, but either the contact details are out of date or the owners don’t want to be involved,” he says.

Worldwide, there have been at least 23 deaths and more than 230 serious injuries associated with defective Takata airbags, Sukkar says. Last year in Australia, a man was killed and a woman seriously injured.

“While almost one in five passenger vehicles on Australian roads have now been recalled, the voluntary recall process has not been effective in some cases, and some manufacturers have not taken satisfactory action to address the serious safety risk which arises after the airbags are more than six years old,” Sukkar says.

Of 4 million vehicles with defective Takata airbags across Australia, 2.7 million have been voluntarily recalled and 1.7 million have had airbags replaced.

The compulsory recall adds 1.3 million vehicles to the 1 million vehicles recalled but still need their airbags replaced.

The ACCC says some vehicles will be recalled immediately and others on a rolling basis, with scheduling based on various factors including relative safety risk.

The subset of Takata airbags called “alpha” are considered to pose the highest safety risk of all the recalled airbags and take priority in the replacement scheme, Sukkar says. About 89,000 have been replaced and there are still 25,000 to go.

Replacement rates for individual suppliers conducting voluntary recalls have varied significantly, ranging from between 36% to more than 84%. Four suppliers had replacement rates of less than 50% of vehicles subject to their voluntary recalls.

Volkswagen Australia says the recall applies to 106,804 of its vehicles, none with the alpha airbag. It says it will conduct a staged recall over the next three years.