The Takata airbag saga is seeing yet another chapter added to its history. A new recall has been issued in connection to the faulty component, this time because Ford has lost track of some old airbags installed during repairs over the years. Recall that the faulty Takata airbags can explode and send shrapnel into the faces and upper bodies of vehicle occupants.
Since the scandal erupted several years ago, some 67 million airbags have been recalled across the industry, affecting 19 manufacturers. In total, 27 people have died and around 400 have been injured.
Ford is now recalling more than 154,000 vehicles across North America for testing. In fact, two recalls are taking place. The largest one involves some 153,000 vehicles being recalled because Ford has lost track of 45 old airbags that are believed to have been installed on old Ranger pickup trucks. Ford says the airbags were never removed from its parts inventory and might have been used to repair damaged vehicles.
The affected models belong to the 2004-2006 model-years.
A much-smaller second recall involves around 1,100 vehicles that may also have been equipped with obsolete Takata cushions during accident repairs. Here, several models are affected; they include the Ranger pickup (2004-2011), Mustang (2005-2014), Ford GT (2006), Fusion (2008-2012) and Edge SUV (2007-2010), as well as the Lincoln MKZ (2010-2012) and MKX (2007-2010).
Ford says it is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this particular issue. The company states that it is checking the vehicles at the request of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the U.S. equivalent of Transport Canada.
Dealers will inspect the front seat airbags and replace them if necessary. Owners will be notified beginning the week of March 8.
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