Micra hits airbag trouble too

Nissan's Micra is the latest model to be hit by a global recall affecting airbags in more than 17 million vehicles, with almost 13,000 of the pint-size hatchbacks recalled this week in Australia.

A total of 12,859 current-generation (K13-series) Micras built between September 2010 and October 2011 were recalled this week to have their driver's airbags inspected and potentially replaced.

Nissan said the airbag inflator may have been incorrectly installed, potentially preventing the airbag from inflating in the event of a collision. It will soon begin contacting affected customers, who can call 1800 988 334 for further details.

The Micra driver's airbag recall is in addition to a previous recall affecting front passenger airbags also produced by Japanese component supplier Takata Corp for a total of 25,941 Nissan vehicles in Australia.

Nissan said its original global recall in 2013 was extended based on new information from Takata in June 2014 and now covers six MY2001-2003 models including the N16 Pulsar, D22 Navara, Y61 Patrol, T30 X-TRAIL and A33 Maxima.

About 150,000 vehicles have now been recalled in Australia due to problems with Takata airbags – all from Japanese car-makers including Honda (43,414), Toyota (19,600) and Mazda (4639).

No other Takata-related airbag recalls have been announced since June, when Honda recalled an additional 33,434 Civic (MY2001-2003), CR-V (2002-2003) and Jazz (2003) vehicles.

Around the same time, Mazda recalled 4639 Mazda6s and 11 RX-8s built between April 2002 and June 2003 due to the same problem, while Toyota recalled Corolla, Avensis Verso and Lexus SC430 vehicles due to airbag faults in 2013.

In all cases but the Micra's, in which the driver's airbag is affected, the metal propellant wafers of front passenger airbag inflators may not be dense enough, leading to excessive pressure that may rupture the airbag and spray vehicle occupants with shrapnel.

"The front passenger airbag inflator contains propellant wafers that are required to properly deploy the airbag. Some incorrect propellant wafers with insufficient density might be installed in certain inflators," said one recall notice.

"This may cause the combustion rate of the propellant to increase inside the inflator, which can lead to internal pressure rising suddenly during airbag deployment and may result in abnormal deployment. In certain cases, the inflator housing may rupture and the metal fragments may scatter."

Although no injuries have been reported in Australia due to Takata airbag problems, they have been linked to four deaths in the US, where nearly eight million vehicles from 10 car-makers have been recalled since 2013, including those from BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

This week Reuters reported an unnamed Takata spokesman in Japan as saying the company modified the composition of the ammonium nitrate propellant in its airbags as part of its improvement process, but the company did not admit to any problems with the quality of the original formula.

Last week, US senators called for the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation following a report that Takata conducted secret tests of its airbags and then destroyed the evidence in 2004 – almost a decade before the first vehicles were recalled.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has set a December 1 deadline for Takata to answer questions under oath and produce evidence of how it handled airbag problems dating back to 2000.

In other recall news this week, Lotus has recalled about 200 Elise and Exige vehicles plus seven Evoras built between June 2004 and July 2011 to fix potentially faulty oil hoses that pose a fire risk.