Air bag recall may double in size if regulators get their way

DETROIT — U.S. auto safety regulators are in talks with Takata Corp. to add tens of millions of air bag inflators to what already is the biggest auto recall in American history, three people briefed on the matter said Tuesday.

The government’s Na- tional Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants the Japanese company to agree to a recall that could more than double the 28.8 million Takata inflators that already must be replaced, according to the people who requested anonymity because talks are still ongoing. An announcement could come as soon as Wednesday.

Unlike most air bag makers, Takata’s inflators use the chemical ammonium nitrate to fill air bags in a crash. But they can explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister and spewing shrapnel into drivers and passengers. At least 11 people have died worldwide. The latest death was a 17-yearold Houston-area girl who got into a relatively minor crash while driving her family’s 2002 Honda Civic.

Neither the government nor Takata would say if more recalls are coming, but under an agreement reached with the company last year, it must prove that the inflators are safe or begin recalling them in 2018.

The government wants Takata to recall air bag inflators that don’t have a drying agent called a dessicant, but the size of the recall expansion is unclear, the people said. The expansion is likely to include about 35 million front air bag inflators on U.S. roads without the drying agent.

But that still wouldn’t be a total recall of Takata air bags. The safety agency has said there are a total of 85 million unrecalled Takata inflators in U.S. vehicles, some with and without the drying agent.

Such an expansion would cost Takata billions on top of what it already has spent replacing inflators, raising concerns about the company’s financial health.