The U.S. auto safety regulator said on Tuesday it would require Ford Motor Co to recall 3 million vehicles with potentially defective Takata air bags.
Also, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it was denying petitions filed by Ford and Mazda Motor Corp in which the automakers sought to avoid recalling vehicles with potentially dangerous inflators.
The decision also will require Mazda to recall and repair driver air bags in approximately 5,800 vehicles. The recalls will cover various vehicles from the 2006 through 2012 model years.
The defect, which leads in rare instances to air bag inflators rupturing and sending potentially deadly metal fragments flying – especially after long-term exposure to high humidity – prompted the largest automotive recall in U.S. history of more than 67 million inflators.
Takata inflators have resulted in the deaths of at least 27 people worldwide and 18 in the United States, and over 400 reported injuries.
Ford and Mazda did not immediately comment.
The vehicles that will be recalled include various Ford Ranger, Fusion, Edge, Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKX vehicles, along with Mazda 2007–2009 model year B-Series vehicles.
