Federal highway safety officials expanded a warning about defective air bags on Tuesday night, saying more vehicles sold in the U.S. are involved in recalls over the potentially deadly problem.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration urged owners of affected vehicles to immediately act on recall notices to replace defective airbags made by Takata.
The air bag canisters are believed to explode during crashes under certain conditions, sending shrapnel toward motorists. Safety advocates say the defect has been implicated in four deaths worldwide and dozens of injuries.
Humidity is thought to be factor, and the NHTSA singled out vehicle owners in particularly humid areas, including Florida, the Gulf states, Georgia, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
"Responding to these recalls, whether old or new, is essential to personal safety and it will help aid our ongoing investigation into Takata airbags and what appears to be a problem related to extended exposure to consistently high humidity and temperatures," NHTSA Deputy Administrator David Friedman said in a statement.
Takata said it would cooperate with U.S. officials and automakers, Reuters reported.
The NHTSA first issued a warning on Monday for 4.7 million vehicles in the U.S. The new list expands the number of vehicles and contains corrections, the agency said. A government website meant to let owners check whether their vehicle was on the recall list was out of commission on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, GM issued a warning to owners of certain models not to let passengers sit in the front until they get the air bags repaired.
Here is the NHTSA's new list of affected models:
BMW: 627,615 total number of potentially affected vehicles
- 2000 – 2005 3 Series Sedan
- 2000 – 2006 3 Series Coupe
- 2000 – 2005 3 Series Sports Wagon
- 2000 – 2006 3 Series Convertible
- 2001 – 2006 M3 Coupe
- 2001 – 2006 M3 Convertible
Chrysler: 371,309 total number of potentially affected vehicles
- 2003 – 2008 Dodge Ram 1500
- 2005 – 2008 Dodge Ram 2500
- 2006 – 2008 Dodge Ram 3500
- 2006 – 2008 Dodge Ram 4500
- 2008 – Dodge Ram 5500
- 2005 – 2008 Dodge Durango
- 2005 – 2008 Dodge Dakota
- 2005 – 2008 Chrysler 300
- 2007 – 2008 Chrysler Aspen
Ford: 58,669 total number of potentially affected vehicles
- 2004 – Ranger
- 2005 – 2006 GT
- 2005 – 2007 Mustang
General Motors: undetermined total number of potentially affected vehicles
- 2003 – 2005 Pontiac Vibe
- 2005 – Saab 9-2X
Honda: 5,051,364 total number of potentially affected vehicles
- 2001 – 2007 Honda Accord)
- 2001 – 2002 Honda Accord
- 2001 – 2005 Honda Civic
- 2002 – 2006 Honda CR-V
- 2003 – 2011 Honda Element
- 2002 – 2004 Honda Odyssey
- 2003 – 2007 Honda Pilot
- 2006 – Honda Ridgeline
- 2003 – 2006 Acura MDX
- 2002 – 2003 Acura TL/CL
- 2005 – Acura RL\
Mazda: 64,872 total number of potentially affected vehicles
- 2003 – 2007 Mazda6
- 2006 – 2007 MazdaSpeed6
- 2004 – 2008 Mazda RX-8
- 2004 – 2005 MPV
- 2004 – B-Series Truck
Mitsubishi: 11,985 total number of potentially affected vehicles
- 2004 – 2005 Lancer
- 2006 – 2007 Raider
Nissan: 694,626 total number of potentially affected vehicles
- 2001 – 2003 Nissan Maxima
- 2001 – 2004 Nissan Pathfinder
- 2002 – 2004 Nissan Sentra
- 2001 – 2004 Infiniti I30/I35
- 2002 – 2003 Infiniti QX4
- 2003 – 2005 Infiniti FX35/FX45
Subaru: 17,516 total number of potentially affected vehicles
- 2003 – 2005 Baja
- 2003 – 2005 Legacy
- 2003 – 2005 Outback
- 2003 – 2005 Baja
- 2004 – 2005 Impreza
Toyota: 877,000 total number of potentially affected vehicles
- 2002 – 2005 Lexus SC
- 2002 – 2005 Toyota Corolla
- 2003 – 2005 Toyota Corolla Matrix
- 2002 – 2005 Toyota Sequoia
- 2003 – 2005 Toyota Tundra
