Mercedes-Benz Recall Issued Over Risk of Exploding Airbags

Daimler AG says it will recall about 840,000 Mercedes-Benz and other vehicles in the U.S. because they are equipped with potentially dangerous airbags, which may over-inflate and explode, causing debris to injury drivers and occupants. 

The Mercedes-Benz airbag recall was announced on February 10, in a press release issued by the manufacturer.

According to Daimler, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) notified the company on February 9 that multiple series of Mercedes-Benz and Daimler-manufacturerd vans sold in the United States are currently equipped with potentially defective Takata airbags, which have been linked to injuries and several deaths in other vehicles.

Although Daimler, which owns Mercedes-Benz, has announced it will recall all of the vehicles equipped with the defective airbags, the company has not yet sorted out which vehicles are specifically impacted by the recall.

Mercedes spokeswoman, Donna Boland, stated that the recalled vehicles will include various C-Class, E-Class, SLK-Class and SLS-Class cars and GL-Class, M-Class and R-Class sport utility vehicles from model years 2005 through 2014. In addition to the Mercedes-Benz cars and SUV being recalled, Daimler AG is also recalling various Sprinter vans sold under the Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner and Dodge brands with model years 2007 through 2014.

The recall will affect a little more than 700,000 Mercedes-Benz cars and SUV’s, and approximately 136,000 commercial vans under other Daimler brand names. Specifics on particular model years, production dates and VIN’s for each class of vehicle are not available, but will be released as more information becomes available.

Takata Airbag Recalls Continue to Pour In

Since the beginning of the year, about five million vehicles have been recalled because they were equipped with Takata airbags. Over the last two years, the total number of recalled vehicles is well over 34 million. Experts say there are likely more recalls to come.

During the initial stages of the recalls, it became clear to the NHTSA that Takata was not capable of handling repairs for the massive number of vehicles. In November, the NHTSA issued a Consent Order, requiring the company to be cooperative with the agency in all future actions involving current recall investigations.

The order also demanded that the NHTSA be the head controller of the recall campaigns in the U.S. and allow the agency to organize and execute recall repairs schedules to speed up the process. The NHTSA also fined Takata $200 million.

The NHTSA took control over the investigation in an attempt to speed up the process of the recall repairs, which has made an impact of repairs. However, the repair schedule continues to fall behind as more vehicles are identified to contain the defective inflators, and for some those repairs may come too late.

Just last month, the NHTSA confirmed the tenth death to occur on U.S. roadways due to rupturing Takata airbag inflators. The incident involved a South Carolina man who was traveling in his 2006 Ford Ranger when his airbag exploded and he was killed by the resulting shrapnel.