Canada A Low Priority In Takata Airbag Recalls

Cameron Aubernon
by Cameron Aubernon

As nearly 34 million vehicles in the United States go under recall over Takata’s airbag issues, Canada remains a low priority due to cooler climes.

Numerous injuries and six deaths involving the supplier’s airbags occurred in warmer, humid climates, affecting the ammonium nitrate composition — used to aid in detonation during airbag deployment — to catastrophic effect, USA Today reports.

Most of the recalls prior to Tuesday’s nationwide action focused on a handful of states whose climate met the conditions needed for failure. However, the new recall places a considerable strain on Takata’s ability to produce replacement units — 3.8 million thus far — which it hopes to increase to 1 million per month by September. Other suppliers are helping to fill-in wherever possible, though the campaign could take years to complete, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration administrator Mark Rosekind.

Thus, Canada is left out in the cold to wait as supply constraints and greater urgency for affected consumers in warmer climes take precedence. Meanwhile, the Canadian subsidiaries of FCA, Ford, BMW, Nissan and Mazda have issued a handful of recalls for a small number of affected vehicles, said recalls being issued closer to repair time per Transport Canada’s requirements; U.S. legislation requires recalls to be issued as soon as a safety problem comes up.

Consumer apathy will likely play a role in bringing recalled vehicles into the repair shop. Autotrader found 56 percent of those made aware of a recall action bring in their vehicles every time, while 61 percent try to keep up with recall news, and 35 percent put in the research when shopping for a vehicle.

[Photo credit: Whpq/ Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY-SA 3.0]

Cameron Aubernon
Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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 6 comments
  • Lou_BC Lou_BC on May 21, 2015

    Gets hot and humid around the Great Lakes and the St.Lawrence. The Southern Interior of BC sees 40C on a routine basis in the summer. Maybe it has to do with the fact that those south of the 49th Parallel have a reputation for "lawyering up" quicker and more aggressively than us quite polite Canadians ;)

    • See 3 previous
    • Lou_BC Lou_BC on May 21, 2015

      JohnTaurus_3.0_AX4N - everything I've read about this problem is related to humidity. As I have pointed out, Central Canada does get very humid. Coastal areas of BC can get hot and humid as well. I mentioned the southern Interior of BC because the news post did not mention humidity. I do believe that as I have sarcastically pointed out and as others have mentioned, our government isn't as aggressive with companies like Takata.

  • Readallover Readallover on May 21, 2015

    This has a lot more to do with the Canadian government being much weaker in holding corporations to account for their actions. The squeaky airbag gets the grease.

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