Honda Motor Co. said Thursday it is recalling an additional 668,816 cars in Japan in order to replace passenger-seat air bag inflators manufactured by auto parts maker Takata Corp.
The recall covers 16 models, including the Fit compact car, produced between January 2009 and December 2011, according to the filing made by Honda with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. The total number of vehicles being recalled over potentially faulty Takata air bag inflators has reached around 15.54 million units in Japan.
The inflators targeted in the latest recall could explode and spray metal parts, the ministry said. The inflators are different from those linked to deaths overseas, mainly in the United States.
Since May, the transport ministry has been calling on automakers to expand the target of vehicles being called back after the U.S. road safety regulator ordered a recall in the United States of air bag inflators using ammonium nitrate as a propellant without a drying agent.