Wherever you are in the world, if you own a car, this recent news report may be something you need to read.
According to a Straits Times report, at least 75,000 cars in Singapore are affected by a worldwide recall caused by a potentially fatal flaw in their airbag system.
“Japanese company Takata, which supplies a fifth of the world’s airbags, has said that at least 36 million vehicles around the world—34 million in the United States alone—need parts replaced after finding that an inflator module can propel shrapnel when the airbag is deployed,” the report said.
Already, six fatalities have been reported in Malaysia, along with 100 injuries.
In Singapore, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that dealerships are still trying to ascertain the vehicles that need attention “given the large numbers of vehicles affected worldwide.”
Japanese car giants Toyota and Honda make up a large fraction of the affected models, but only BMW agent Motors has started replacing the airbag component in affected cars.
The same report also said that preliminary estimates show that 37,000 Toyotas made between 2001 and 2007, 32,000 Hondas, 4,600 Subarus and 4,000 Nissans in Singapore are affected.
Meanwhile, an “an undetermined number of Mazdas” are also affected.
Next page find out which models are affected
The Toyota models include the Camry, Corolla, Picnic, RAV4, Vios and Yaris.
For Honda, the models are the City, Civic, CR-V, Jazz and Stream. For Nissan’s, the models are the Cefiro, Prairie, Presage, Sunny and X-Trail.
Thousands of BMWs are affected, but according to BMW Asia, these models were between 1999 and 2006 and have been scrapped because most have reached their 10-year statutory lifespan.
Only 160 are still on the road and, of these, 60 per cent have been fixed.
For Nissan, 3,000 care are estimated to be affected by the defect, and these were made between 2004 and 2007. “The earliest expected commencement for (parts) replacement is August,” said Mr Ron Lim, general manager of Nissan agent Tan Chong Motor.
Toyota, on the other hand, is still waiting for parts from manufacturers to be delivered.
“It is not known how affected cars sold by parallel importers—some of which are no longer in business—will be fixed,” the same report said.
However, general manager of Honda agent Kah Moto Nicholas Wong said: “It is safe for customers to continue driving their cars. We will contact them once we have received the parts.”
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