Toyota, after recently taking back the title of the world's largest automaker from Volkswagen, announced that it is reissuing a recall for about 1.6 million vehicles in Japan in order to check for possibly faulty Takata-manufactured airbag inflators, according to CNBC News.
The recall would affect roughly 20 domestic models that were released by Toyota between 2004 and 2005, including the Toyota Corolla and the Vitz. The same models were sold in various countries, including Italy, Britain and Spain. As of writing, no vehicles that were released in the United States are included in the recall.
Takata airbag inflators, which contain ammonium nitrate, have been found to have the tendency to explode after too much force, sending out deadly shrapnel to a vehicle's passengers. Due to the airbag problem, at least eight people have been killed worldwide, and hundreds more have been injured, reports The Asahi Shimbun.
Toyota has already announced that it will discontinue the use of Takata airbags in its future vehicles. Other prominent car manufacturers like Honda, Nissan, Mazda and Ford have also announced that they will be dropping Takata as their airbag supplier of choice for their coming vehicles.
Just earlier this month, United States auto safety regulators demanded that Takata be fined $70 million for concealing evidence that its airbags were prone to explode. If the company fails to appropriately do something about the airbag issue, it risks being fined an additional $200 million by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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