It is a rare phenomenon that two competitors, well known to each other, can find even footing and agree on something. In the world of vehicle sale, this has come to pass in the shape of both Toyota and Nissan agreeing to recall a large number of their fleets in the latest edition of the Takata air bag saga.
Toyota, a company that easily gets the credit of world’s largest automobile manufacturer, gave in and recalled over 5 million units covering over 35 models produced between March 2003 and November 2007 whereas fellow Japanese rival Nissan is recalling 1.56 million vehicles that came off the production line in the period from 2004 to 2008.
The Takata problem is widespread and has as such eroded the car rating of many other brands such as General Motors and Honda. Locally (Japan) Toyota has called in a whopping 1.35 million cars, 1.26 million in Europe and 637,000 cars in the United States.
The Takata made air bags have been found out to have a defect that could see them inflate improperly, rupture and thus send shrapnel flying into the cabin of the automobiles at the occupants. The Japanese air bag supplier has been moving against the tide of the authorities in the US when the latter advised a full on recall for cars with the former’s air bags. Takata claims that the defect happens mainly in areas that are hot and humid therefore it is not necessary to issue a full scale recall.
Despite the financial crisis this sets the company, as well as the automobile ones, the top executives have remained silent about the issue.
