Thursday, 21 July 2016

Luxury brands still selling faulty airbags

Reuters reports that Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz and Daimler Vans units and Ferrari NV are among a small group of automakers selling some new vehicles with faulty Takata airbags that will be subject to recalls by the end of 2018, a Senate report released said Wednesday.

The vehicles are legal to be sold since the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has said they will not become potentially unsafe until exposed to high humidity for an extended period. Safety advocates and some in Congress have criticized the sale of the vehicles which will be recalled.

Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, said the vehicles include the 2016 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and 2016-2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe/Convertible and numerous 2016 and 2017 Ferrari models including the FF, California T, 488 GTB/488 Spider, F12/F12tdf and GTC4 Lusso.

A Daimler spokeswoman did not immediately comment and Ferrari did not respond to requests to comment.

The report said Daimler AG and Ferrari plan to tell dealers to notify buyers that the vehicles will be subject to future recalls.To date seven out of 17 automakers Nelson contacted have admitted to equipping some new vehicles with defective Takata airbags, including Toyota Motor Corp, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Volkswagen AG. All agreed to notify buyers of the planned recalls.

Tesla Motors Inc is the only automaker that has not provided a written response. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday from Reuters. NHTSA said in May that Tesla would be required to recall unnamed vehicles for Takata air bag inflators.