December 2, 2011 - Honda has decided to expand a recall related to a defect in the driver's SRS airbag installed on certain vehicles produced in 2001 and 2002 and has issued a notification in North America, Japan and other regions. This recall will also be conducted in other affected countries/regions.
The subject of this recall includes a total of 304,035 vehicles and 912 units of service parts airbags.
This is an extension of the previous recalls conducted in November 2008, June 2009 and February 2010, which included a total of 952,118 vehicles as well as the recalls conducted in October 2009 and April 2011, which included a total of 5,328 units of service parts airbags in North America, Japan and other regions.
Situation:
Some of the inflator propellant* located inside the inflator of the driver's SRS airbag was defective. As a result, when the driver's airbag is deployed in the event of an accident, there is a possibility that an abrupt increase in the inflator's internal pressure may rupture the casing of the inflator and cause fragments of airbag parts to scatter.
- *chemical substance which generates gas to inflate the airbag
Background:
<November 2008>
As the result of our investigation based on incidents that occurred in the U.S. after February 2007, we identified the cause of the problem as excessive moisture intake by the inflator propellant within the inflator. Based on this conclusion, on November 11, 2008, we issued a recall notification in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
- *Total: 4,205 vehicles (3,940 units in the U.S., 218 units in Canada, 47 units in Mexico)
<June 2009>
We continued our analysis as there were additional incidents involving vehicles outside of the range of the original recall. In order to prevent the same incidents from occurring in the future, we decided to expand the range and issued a second recall notification in the U.S., Canada and other regions on June 30, 2009. A recall notification was issued for the first time in Japan on July 29, 2009.
- *Total: 510,150 vehicles (443,727 units in the U.S., 49,452 units in Canada, 1,532 units in Japan, 15,439 units in other countries/regions)
<October 2009>
We identified that a number of affected service parts airbags were installed in vehicles in the process of repairs in Japan. Based on this conclusion, on October 19, 2009, we issued a recall notification in Japan, including 53 units of service parts airbags.
<February 2010>
As a result of our continued investigation, we identified that there was a possibility that the defect occurs when the stamping pressure during the production of the inflator propellant is not high enough. And we concluded that the fact that adequate stamping pressure management was not performed for production of the inflator propellant using a certain stamping machine was the cause of the problem. Therefore, we decided to expand the recall to include all vehicles using compressed inflator propellant produced with this particular equipment and issued recall notifications in the U.S. and Canada on February 9, 2010, and in Japan and other countries/regions on February 10, 2010. The recall notification issued in Japan included 21 units of service parts airbags as well.
- *Total: 437,763 vehicles (378,758 units in the U.S., 41,685 units in Canada, 4,042 units in Japan, 13,278 units in other counties).
- *Total 21 units of service parts airbag (in Japan).
<April 2011>
As we continued our investigation, we identified that a number of affected service parts airbags were installed in vehicles in the process of a collision repair or other vehicle service. As Honda could not determine which specific vehicles received one of those parts, a recall notification was issued in the U.S. and Canada and other countries/regions on April 27, 2011.
- *Total: 5,275 units of service part airbags (in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia and other countries/regions. Japan was not included in this recall.) The number of potentially affected vehicles is 896,338 units.
<Latest measure in December 2011>
We continued our analysis as there were additional incidents involving vehicles outside of the range of the recall. As a result of our investigation, we identified that there was a flaw in the method of lot management at the supplier of the inflator propellant, and some of the affected inflator propellant was used for airbags which were outside of the range of the previous recall. Based on this conclusion, we issued a recall notification in the U.S. and Canada on December 1, 2011 and in Japan, Australia and some other countries/regions on December 2, 2011
- *Total: 304,035 vehicles (272,779 units in the U.S., 26,964 units in Canada, 1,891 units in Japan, 2,401 units in other countries/regions)
- *Total: 912 units of service parts airbags (in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia and other countries/regions. Japan was not included in this recall.) The number of potentially affected vehicles is 613,232 units.
Action to be taken:
The inflator in the driver's SRS airbag of vehicles subject to this recall will be replaced with a non-defective inflator in all affected countries/regions.
This expanded recall broadens the scope to include all compressed inflator propellant which was produced using equipment that experienced the problem; therefore, based on our understanding, this action would rule out the possibility of the same incidents occurring in the future.
Countries, models, number of vehicles subject to the recall:
| Country | Model | # of units | Recall Notification (local time) |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S.A. | Accord, Civic, TL, CL, Odyssey, Pilot, CR-V | 273,000 | Dec.1, 2011 |
| Canada | Accord, Civic ,TL, CL, Odyssey, CR-V | 27,000 | Dec.1, 2011 |
| Japan | Inspire, Saber, Lagreat | 2,000 | Dec.2, 2011 |
| Others | 2,000 | - | |
| Total: 304,000 units | |||
Others: Australia (336 units), Taiwan (223 units), Singapore (58 units), etc.