Japanese automakers recall 2.9m vehicles

Honda Motor Co and other Japanese automakers on Monday recalled more cars with potentially explosive air bags supplied by Takata Corp, bringing the total recall so far to around 10.5 million vehicles over the past five years.

The series of recalls cover both passenger-side and driver-side air bags, which the world's second-biggest automotive safety parts maker manufactured in 2000-02. The total ranks it among the five biggest recalls in the industry's history.

And the total is likely to grow further after Takata said it was willing to support carmakers including Honda, Toyota Motor Corp, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co in replacing certain air bag inflators it made in 2000-07 for vehicles in some high humidity regions in the US.

Honda said it was recalling about 2.03 million vehicles globally over potentially flawed Takata air bag inflators made in 2000-02 with a risk of exploding and shooting out shrapnel at drivers and passengers, expanding a recall from April 2013.

It cited how explosive material used to inflate Takata passenger-side air bags had been handled and processed in 2000-02 at plants in the US and Mexico.

Nissan Motor Co said it would recall 755,000 vehicles worldwide, while Mazda Motor Corp said it would call back 159,807 vehicles.

Takata CEO Shigehisa Takada and Chief Operating Officer Stefan Stocker said the company was working with safety regulators and carmakers.

Separately, Takata has asked multiple carmakers to cooperate on investigations related to vehicles sold in the US that carry inflators. Those companies could soon make follow-up announcements, said a person knowledgeable about the matter who declined to be named.

The recalls come as General Motors is under scrutiny over why it took more than a decade to discover a faulty ignition switch linked to at least 13 deaths.

Monday's announcements in Japan follow Toyota's recall last week. Prior to Monday, the four Japanese carmakers and BMW had recalled 7.6 million vehicles equipped with potentially defective air bags.

Short of Takata replacement parts, the automakers said they would turn off air bags in Japan as customers bring recalled vehicles into dealerships - judging that an inoperable passenger side air bag is safer than a potentially defective one.