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Ken Gratton13 Dec 2019
NEWS

Honda boss demands Victorian government action

Recalcitrant Jazz owner highlights Takata airbag challenge in the southern state

Victoria remains the sole remaining state in Australia yet to introduce legislation blocking registration renewal for cars fitted with potentially lethal Takata airbags.

And it's a sore point with Honda Australia Director, Stephen Collins. Speaking with journalists during the local launch of the new Honda Accord, Collins cited one Jazz owner in Victoria who has been contacted an astounding 234 times to have the offending airbag replaced – but to no avail.

"I know of a Jazz owner in Melbourne, who we have had 234 individual contacts with – [and] it's an alpha [airbag], so it's one of the nasty ones," Collins explained.

"It would be over [a period of] years. Now that is a combination of normal letters, registered posts, SMSs... maybe emails as well, and home visit and phone calls.

Collins says that Honda's recall team has received no response from this owner. Asked whether the owner might be deceased, the Honda exec revealed that the car was present at the registered address at the time of the home visit.

This "extreme example" might be resolved if the Victorian government insisted on airbag replacement before offering to renew the registration.

"We are bitterly disappointed that Victoria is not on board," Collins said. "This is an example of I'm not sure what we can do without assistance from the authorities...

"It's an alpha... it's not like it's not serious.

"For us, we've been calling on registration sanctions for a long time, and really, everyone but Victoria is on board.

"It's highly disappointing, particularly when recently we've been in the midst of a coronial inquest in New South Wales."

Other than the few hold-outs, however, Collins is generally satisfied with the way the airbag replacement program has proceeded.

"The ACCC [completion rate] that we report is 96 per cent. We're doing maybe just under a thousand [airbag replacements] a week. We peaked at nearly 9000 a week."

The vehicles affected number 436,000, which according to Collins amounts to every car that Honda has sold in Australia over the last 10 years.

"It's been a massive project; it's hopefully coming towards the end.

Under the auspice of the mandatory recall, Honda Australia is in no position to waive its liability with an acknowledgement signed off by the vehicle owner. The importer has to arrange for the airbag to be replaced.

"Under the mandatory recall, we can't stop," Collins said. "We have to keep going."

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Written byKen Gratton
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