NHTSA Appeal Fails,Ford To Recall Additional 3 Million Cars With Takata Airbags

Following in GM’s footsteps, Ford is back to issuing recalls on Takata airbags. Both automakers have been fighting with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over and order to recall several million cars equipped with possibly defective Takata airbag inflators. Both GM and Ford’s appeals have been unsuccessful and Ford will now be recalling and repairing all affected vehicles.

The latest recall will cover driver-side airbags in the models listed below manufactured in 2006-12. In total, three million vehicles are affected.

• 2007-11 Ford Ranger
• 2006-12 Ford Fusion
• 2007-10 Ford Edge
• 2006-12 Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ
• 2007-10 Lincoln MKX
• 2006-11 Mercury Milan
• 2007-09 Mazda B-Series

At this time of this article, more than 100 million cars with Takata inflators have been recalled. The recalls are due to the ammonium nitrate Takata used to produce a controlled explosion to inflate the airbags which deteriorate in humid conditions resulting in metal being ejected into the cabin.

The issue has been ongoing since 2019 with various attempts to fix and resolve the problem. Ford initially argued that Takata’s first solution of using calcium sulfate to absorb moisture particulars was sufficient however, the NHTSA has since determined it’s still an issue.

Now, the NHTSA is requiring Ford and Mazda to put together a plan to inform owners and repair vehicles within the next 30 days. There are reportedly around 17 million more vehicles still on U.S. roads with faulty airbags.