An electronic defect that can prevent airbags from inflating during crashes has forced Toyota Motor Corp and other car giants to recall more than 6 million vehicles worldwide, the company announced on Tuesday.
The vehicles may be equipped with an electronic feature that is not fully protected against vibrations and noise in accidents or collisions, and this may keep the airbags from properly deploying.
The electronic control unit in question could also affect the function of seat-belts, in particular, the so-called auto pretensioners. The recall, which includes almost 3 million US vehicles, covers the 2011-'13 Matrix, 2011-'19 Corolla, 2012-'18 Avalon and 2013-'18 Avalon Hybrid models.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation in April last year into more than 12 million potentially malfunctioning airbags that involve a number of car manufacturers, including the vehicles that Toyota has placed on recall.
According to the USNHTSA, it had identified two frontal crash incidents, including a fatal crash that involved Toyota units where an overload in electrical flow is believed as the "possible cause" of airbags that failed to inflate. The crashes involved newer Toyota Corolla models.
The USNHTSA pointed out that the airbags under probe were installed in over 12 million cars from 2010 up to 2019 and sold by Toyota, Honda Motor, Fiat Chrysler, Hyundai Motor, Mitsubishi, and Kia Motors.
The electronic control unit that was first manufactured by TRW Automotive Holdings Corp, which is now owned by ZF Friedrichshafen, was installed in the vehicles made by these car companies. The USNHTSA stated that around eight people have been said to die in connection to the malfunctions.
Fiat Chrysler, Kia and Hyundai have previously announced recalls for over 2.5 million vehicles installed with the TRW airbag control units that could possibly fail in crashes.
Fiat Chrysler disclosed that it had reports of three deaths and five injuries that could be linked to the electronic flaw, when the automaker recalled some 2 million cars for the same airbag issues in 2016.
Kia and Hyundai eventually recalled over a million cars for airbag failure issues in 2018. The two auto companies in 2018 divulged they had reports of four deaths and six injuries in North America connected to the defective electronic units.
Toyota Motor dealers said they would install a noise filter between the airbag control device and its wire hook, if necessary. The Japanese carmaker did not say how many injuries or deaths have been linked to the questionable airbag system, except to say it will notify car owners of the recall around middle of March.
