Toyota urges immediate fix for 50,000 U.S. cars with dangerous airbags
Toyota (Illustrative photo: Getty Images)
Toyota company urges Americans who own 50,000 cars made between 2003 and 2005 to fix them as soon as possible. The airbags in these cars could explode and hurt or even kill the people inside, according to Reuters and BBC.
The specific models involved are the 2003-2004 Corolla, 2003-2004 Corolla Matrix, and 2004-2005 RAV4. The company says that if the airbag goes off, a part inside might explode and shoot out sharp metal pieces. These pieces can seriously hurt or even cause the death of the driver or passengers.
The airbags were made by a company called Takata which has already caused a lot of problems. Over 30 people around the world, including 26 in the United States, have died connected to Takata airbags that can burst open, and many others have been hurt.
"Serious issues with Takata airbag inflators have resulted in the biggest motor industry safety recall in history, involving more than 100 million products and over 20 carmakers," BBC says.
Takata faced issues for many years, including lawsuits and a criminal investigation. In 2017, Takata declared bankruptcy, and its assets were sold to a Chinese-owned company for about $1.6 billion.
Toyota company
Toyota announced that it sold a record 11.2 million vehicles in 2023, making it the world's top-selling carmaker for the fourth consecutive year. However, it has faced some problems recently. The company stopped sending some vehicles because of problems with certification tests for diesel engines. Employees at Toyota Industries, which developed the engines, were found to have manipulated tests. These engines are used in 10 models sold globally.
Toyota is also dealing with a case involving Daihatsu, a company that specializes in small cars. Daihatsu admitted to falsifying safety tests going back more than 30 years. Japan's government canceled the certification of three Daihatsu models after an investigation.
Recent car recalls
In December 2023, Toyota recalled 1 million vehicles because of a defect in airbag sensors, posing a risk of the airbags not deploying correctly.
Tesla also initiated a recall of over 2 million vehicles, nearly all cars sold in the United States, to address issues with its Autopilot systems.
