US pushes air-bag maker on replacement parts

Associated Press

DETROIT

The U.S. government’s auto-safety agency, responding to criticism of its slow response to safety issues, told the manufacturer of millions of potentially faulty air bags to make replacement parts faster and do more testing to find the cause of the problem.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent letters Wednesday to Japanese air-bag maker Takata Corp. and 10 automakers seeking information in a widening air-bag recall that now covers almost 8 million U.S. vehicles.

The vehicles are equipped with Takata air bags that potentially can inflate with too much force, blowing apart metal canisters and sending shards flying at drivers and passengers. Safety advocates say four people have died due to the problem.

Tests by Takata have shown that prolonged exposure to high humidity can cause the inflators to malfunction. Some automakers have limited their recalls to a small number of high- humidity areas, but lawmakers and others are demanding that recalls be expanded nationwide.

Takata, the world’s second-largest air-bag maker with 22 percent of the market, has been plagued by problems for the past 13 years. For varying reasons, more than 12 million cars with its air bags have been recalled worldwide.

Honda has been hit hardest in the latest round of recalls with about 5 million cars called back. Other affected automakers include Nissan, Chrysler, Ford, Mazda, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Toyota, BMW and General Motors.