6000 NZ cars in recall over airbag fault

by Matthew Theunissen More than 6000 Japanese cars sold in New Zealand are expected to be recalled due to concerns about faulty airbags.

They are part of a global recall of more than 3 million vehicles made by Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda.

The company that makes the airbags for all four companies, Takata, has reported a potential safety defect in the front passenger airbag inflator which could ‘‘ cause the airbag inflator to rupture and deploy the airbag abnormally in a crash’’.

Toyota expects to recall more than 1.7 million vehicles globally, Honda more than 1.1 million, Nissan about 480,000 and Mazda more than 45,000.

Toyota New Zealand spokesman Spencer Morris said about 5000 Toyotas in New Zealand produced between 2001 and 2005 would be recalled.

It was a precautionary measure and there were no concerns about customer safety.

‘‘ To our knowledge there have been about five incidents globally so when you think about 1.7 million cars it’s quite a low incident rate,’’ Mr Morris said.

‘‘ In cases where the airbag has been found not to inflate properly we’re not aware of any injuries as a result of that.’’

It is the latest in a series of recalls for Toyota.

Last year it recalled 2.7 million vehicles to fix faulty steering, while a further 7 million vehicles were recalled due to a fire risk caused by a faulty window switch.

In 2009, almost 12 million Toyotas were recalled due to issues with floor