Nissan, Toyota expand Takata-related recall to 6.5 million more vehicles.

ABC World News (5/13, story 11, 0:20, Muir, 5.84M) briefly reported that Nissan and Toyota have expanded “that massive recall over defective air bags – 6.5 million vehicles, those air bags made by the embattled manufacturer Takata. This time, fears that the air bags will rupture in a crash.” The AP (5/14, Kageyama) reports Toyota said Wednesday that it would recall nearly five million “more vehicles globally for the air bag inflator problem.” About 637,000 are in the US. The recall “affects 35 models globally, including the Corolla subcompact, RAV4 sport utility vehicle and Tundra pickup, produced from March 2003 through November 2007.”

        USA Today (5/14, Woodyard, Healey, 5.01M) says the latest recalls “show the Takata bag problem continues to deepen.” NHTSA is fining Takata “$14,000 a day for failing to cooperate regarding its air bags in which the inflators can explode with too much force and spew shrapnel.” Five US deaths have been “blamed on faulty Takata bags.”

        The New York Times (5/14, Tabuchi, Soble, Subscription Publication, 12.24M) says “one source of concern has been the airbags’ propellant, ammonium nitrate, a cheap but powerful explosive that engineers say can destabilize if contaminated with moisture.” The inflator itself, “and whether it corrodes over time,” has also been a concern. The Times notes that NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said last month that Takata “was moving too slowly and his agency was reviewing options to speed up the recalls.”

        The Los Angeles Times (5/14, 4.03M) reports that this is “different from an earlier problem with Takata air bag inflators that deployed with too much force, which has affected a range of automakers including Honda Motor Co., Chrysler, BMW and Ford Motor Co.”