| |
Honda Motor Co has recalled another 440,000 cars worldwide for faulty airbags as Toyota Motor Corp faced further probes over the safety crisis in its car models.
According to Honda, the faulty airbags had previously been linked to one fatality and a total 11 injuries in the United States. However, no more accidents have been reported anywhere.
Honda Motor Co is the second largest auto maker in Japan after Toyota Co.
Though, auto recalls happen over the time due to certain faults or modifications, but, Honda case comes in a crucial time when Toyota facing more probes in its safety designs.
The Toyota incident has put the auto sales in a brutal downturn as the auto manufacturers are struggling to attract the customers during the financial crisis.
Meanwhile, on the eve of serious allegations of safety issues, the US investigators are reviewing a number of complaints about potential steering problems in newer Toyota Corollas.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), it is analyzing reports about Toyota to see if a formal investigation is warranted at the earliest.
Toyota has also expanded its largest ever recall on Tuesday, including more than 400,000 of its models including the latest Prius and other new hybrid models due to braking issues. At the same time, it also recalled more than 7,300 Camrys models in the U.S.A for a similar braking problem.
Now, the sticking accelerator pedals and slipping floormats are the major reasons for the largest ever recalls of vehicles. At least 19 people had died due to the same problem worldwide.
The U.S. congressional committee has also postponed a hearing scheduled for Wednesday to examine the recalls of Toyota's cars. Toyota has also faced lawsuits over the brake problem in its Prius model and it may also be dragged to court over the crashes.
Toyota President Akio Toyoda plans to travel to the United States next week to tackle criticism that his company responded too slowly on earlier recalls of its models.
