• A number of OEMs have commenced voluntary recalls for vehicles manufactured between 1996 and 2000 due to a serious safety concern relating to faulty airbags.
• These vehicles may have been fitted with potentially deadly Takata NADI 5-AT airbags. There is a risk these airbags may misdeploy in an accident and cause metal fragments to propel out of the airbag at high speed, resulting in serious injuries or death to vehicle occupants. There is also a risk that these airbags may under-inflate.
• Owners of affected vehicles have been advised to stop driving their cars immediately and contact their manufacturer.
• The manufacturers who have issued NADI recalls are Honda, Mitsubishi, BMW, Audi, Ford, Mazda, Suzuki and Toyota. The recalls relate to vehicles fitted with the Takata NADI 5-AT airbags, amounting to about 78,000 vehicles being recalled.
• These Takata NADI 5-AT airbags may kill or injure vehicle occupants if they misdeploy in an accident.
• Two drivers have already died in Australia after their Takata NADI 5-AT airbags ruptured and propelled metal parts into the car interior.
• Cars fitted with Takata NADI 5-AT airbags are different to the compulsory recall involving a different type of Takata airbag issued nearly two years ago.
• A number of OEMs have offered to buy back NADI affected vehicles at market value. They have also offered to provide alternative transport options until the buy-back is completed.

Background:

These Takata NADI (non-azide driver inflator) type 5-AT airbags are not captured under the existing compulsory recall of Takata airbags.

These NADI airbags were installed in about 78,000 Australian vehicles, manufactured between 1996 and 2000 across eight manufacturers. A substantial number of these cars are likely to be still registered and on the road.

The successor company to Takata, Joyson Safety Systems (JSS), has confirmed the safety risk in certain NADI 5-AT inflators supplied globally.

An equipment defect report was submitted to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on 3 December 2019, and recalls of affected vehicles are commencing in the US.