Airbag recall hits Nissan

The faulty airbag inflator issue that has been a PR disaster for manufacturers around the world has now struck a further 102,000 Nissan vehicles in Australia, ranging from MY 2004 to MY 2007, in addition to the 50,160 Nissans recalled for the same issue in 2013-2014.

The faulty Takata airbag inflators are susceptible to moisture ingress in high-humidity conditions and reports overseas suggest that if the faulty inflator is triggered in a crash, the inflator may explode into small metal fragments causing injury or death.

Six deaths overseas in Honda vehicles are linked to the faulty airbag inflator.

Nissan Australia last instituted a recall campaign for a faulty driver's airbag inflator in November last year for 12,859 Nissan K13 Micras built between September 2010 and October 2011.

This followed a recall for the same issue in June 2014, which affected the front passenger airbag of 25,941 N16 Pulsar, Y61 Patrol, D22 Navara, A33 Maxima and T30 X-Trail vehicles built between April 2001 and June 2003. This was an amendment to the 11,360 N16 Pulsar, D22 Navara, Y61 Patrol and X-Trail models recalled in April 2013 for the same problem.

The Nissan recall notice dated 27 June 2014 was the most specific about the dangers of the fault. It said that "the front passenger air bag inflator contains propellant wafers that are required to properly deploy the air bag. Some incorrect propellant wafers with insufficient density might be installed in certain inflators. This may cause the combustion rate of the propellant to increase inside the inflator, which can lead to internal pressure rising suddenly during air bag deployment and may result in abnormal deployment. In certain cases, the inflator housing may rupture and the metal fragments may scatter."

Nissan in its latest expansion of the ongoing global recall campaign for Takata Passenger Air Bag Inflators has included additional MY2004-MY2007 vehicles equipped with Takata SPI inflators.

Nissan Australia confirmed that approximately 102,000 Model Year 2004 to Model Year 2007 vehicles supplied to the Australian market are affected by this campaign.

Approximately 10,300 Model Year 2004 to Model Year 2007 vehicles officially supplied to the New Zealand market are also affected.

Nissan is studying the exact additional models and quantities that are to be recalled under this campaign.

Nissan will announce details once they are confirmed and begin contacting customers affected by this recall as soon as parts are available.

Anyone concerned about this matter can contact the Nissan Australia Customer Assistance Centre on 1800 988 334.