Autoliv says it is cooperating with Toyota in their voluntary recall of approximately 1.4m vehicles of the Toyota Prius and Lexus CT200h.
Seven incidents involving the Toyota Prius have been reported where a side curtain airbag has partially inflated without a deployment signal being given by the airbag controller. In each of those incidents, the vehicles were parked and unoccupied, and there have been no reported injuries.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The root cause analysis of this issue is continuing, Autoliv says. No incidents have been reported in any vehicles produced by the four other OEMs who used the same inflator, pointing to vehicle specific characteristics contributing to the issue in addition to a manufacturing issue. The inflator manufacturing process suspected of contributing to the issue was changed in January 2012 and the vehicles now recalled by Toyota represent approximately half of all such inflators manufactured until January 2012.
“For Autoliv, safety and quality are our priorities and we are fully committed to support Toyota’s action in resolving this issue, and will support Toyota in the implementation of solution to the issue”, said Jan Carlson, chairman, president and CEO, Autoliv.
Toyota, in conjunction with NHTSA and the MLIT in Japan, have concluded that an additional retention bracket will address this issue.
Auolive said that “it is too early to determine the final cost to Autoliv, but it is currently expected to be at the lower end of a range of US$10m toUS$40m net of expected insurance recoveries”.
