Owners of Japanese cars in the UAE were today waiting to find out if they would be affected by the recall of millions of cars with faulty airbags.
The recall could affect more than 3.4 million cars worldwide, made by Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda.
The cars, made in the early 2000s, have a potentially defective part supplied by Japan’s Takata Corporation that can cause the passenger-side airbag to deploy abnormally in a crash.
The defect is not thought to have caused any injuries, although Toyota is reported to have dealt with five separate incidents.
It is thought the fault was caused by human error during production of the part.
Toyota, the world’s biggest car maker, confirmed that about 1.73 million of its vehicles, made between November 2000 and March 2004, were affected, including the Corolla, Yaris, Avensis, Avensis Verso, Picnic, Camry and Lexus SC430 models.
Honda has ordered 1.135 million cars to be recalled, including its Civic, CR-V and FR-V vehicles.
Nissan said 480,000 of its cars were affected – including the X-Trail, Patrol, Almera, Almera Tino, Terrano II, Navara, Cube, Maxima and Teana.
Mazda is recalling 45,000 vehicles, including the RX-8 and Mazda 6.
Al-Futtaim Motors, Toyota’s UAE dealer, said it was looking at 2001-2003 Camry and Corolla models.
“As soon as specific details of the UAE market situation are clear, Al-Futtaim Motors will contact customers directly for a vehicle inspection, and replacement of parts if required,” the dealer said.
It added that the company “is working closely with Toyota Motor Corporation to determine the details of the voluntary service campaign for the UAE market”.
A further statement was released from Al-Futtaim’s Honda division stating that the company “is aware of the global recall of Honda vehicles for defects in front passenger’s air bag module and can confirm that only 1,337 units in UAE are affected”.
The UAE-sold models affected are the 2001-03 Odyssey, CR-V, Stream and Civic, it said.
“Al-Futtaim Honda is committed to the safety of its customers and takes the security of its vehicles into strong consideration.
“As per the guidelines of the Ministry of Economy, Al-Futtaim Honda will announce the recall in local newspapers and complete the recall when the concerned vehicles visit the workshop.”
A representative from Arabian Automobile, a UAE Nissan dealership, said it was waiting for official confirmation from the regional Nissan office and as yet no action had been ordered.
Axel Dreyer, the general manager of the UAE Mazda dealer Galadari Automobiles, said that so far there had been no indication from Mazda’s head office whether any of its vehicles would be recalled and the company was awaiting a statement.
He said that only the Mazda 6 model could potentially be in line for local recall, as the dealer does not sell the RX-8.
This latest move by manufacturers follows last year's global recall of almost three million Toyota vehicles due to a water pump problem and a steering shaft defect. Vehicles in the UAE were unaffected by the problems.
ksinclair@thenational.ae
