Japanese automotive manufacturer Toyota has added a further 650,000 cars to the recall it issued last year over a defect in passenger airbags.
Toyota confirmed affected vehicles, including the Corolla, Camry Yaris and Vios models, have a defective part which could cause the airbag inflator to rupture which would see it be deployed abnormally in the event of a crash.
The move, which was triggered by one report of a seat cover burn over the issue, now takes the number of cars recalled to 2.79m globally and brings fresh woe to the world’s biggest carmaker.
It added that it was also modifying the remedy that it was using to address the issue, while also replacing the affected part in vehicles.
The company also confirmed it would now replace the inflator in all involved vehicles, which is to result in the re-notifying of 350,000 owners across the world.
“For vehicles which were inspected and did not receive a replacement inflator, we will re-notify the owners and replace the inflator with a new one,” the firm said in a statement.
An addtional 1.24m owners who had received previous recall notices but did not respond, are also to be sent fresh notices.
Ben Bird, a supply chain consultant at Vendigital, said: “The fact that this recall relates to a problem that the industry has known about for some time, but has not yet been properly dealt with, shows just how bad the quality control systems at Takata must have been.
“About 3.6m vehicles were recalled worldwide back in 2013 due to defective airbag inflators manufactured by Takata. The fact that Toyota has decided to extend its recall further is extremely concerning and suggests there is a serious lack of visibility within the global supply chain.
“The global nature of modern supply chains and their increasing complexity has made it more difficult for vehicle manufacturers to keep a close eye on component manufacturers. The further away they are, the harder it becomes to manage supply-side quality and keep track of serial numbers as articles pass through the supply chain. This can cause major problems if a potential flaw subsequently comes to light and a product recall is required.
“In this case, Takata’s apparent failure to provide detailed product identification information has caused an extremely costly chain reaction of events that will affect the global automotive industry for many years to come. The industry as a whole must learn from this by increasing visibility and reviewing quality control systems right across their supply chains.”
