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 The 2007 Mustang was part of a June recall of millions of cars
from nine manufacturers because air bag inflators made by Japanese
supplier Takata Corp <7312.T> could rupture and send metal fragments
into the cabin.
The so-called “regional recalls” were carried out mainly in
high-humidity states such as Florida after Takata said the inflators
could be susceptible to rupture if exposed to moisture or extreme
humidity.
North Carolina is not one of the high-humidity states listed in
Ford’s June recall, which covered Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and
the U.S. Virgin Islands. The 2007 Mustang owner’s complaint was
filed on Oct. 30 with the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA).
Ford could not confirm that the 2007 Mustang involved in the North
Carolina accident was equipped with Takata air bags.
 In a statement released on Sunday night, Ford said: “Based on the
field reports and testing currently available, the Takata airbag
inflator designs used in Ford vehicles have not shown the same risk
of fragmentation as other Takata airbag inflator designs used by
other manufacturers. We are continuing to investigate this issue,
and we are cooperating fully with NHTSA and Takata.”
Ford’s June recall covered 58,669 cars. It was expanded in late
October to 85,023 cars, including about 61,000 Mustangs from model
years 2005-2008; 23,700 Ford Ranger pickups from model years
2004-2005, and 256 Ford GT sports cars from 2005-2006.
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A Takata spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
The NHTSA complaint about the August accident in North Carolina said
the Mustang “crashed into the rear end of another vehicle” at about
35 miles per hour.
“The air bag deployed with abrupt force and a metal fragment
dislodged, causing injury to the driver’s leg, which required
medical attention,” the complaint said.
Ruptured inflators in Takata air bags have been linked to four
deaths in the United States and one in Malaysia, all in Honda
vehicles. NHTSA has received dozens of complaints linked to the air
bags.
The U.S. safety agency on Friday said Takata-related recalls since
April 2013 number around 8 million. Before then, Honda alone had
recalled more than 2.5 million cars, dating to November 2008, to
replace defective inflators in Takata air bags.
(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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