A Nissan Sentra in the parking lot of a dealership in Evanston, Illinois, on November 12, 2010.
Scott Olson | fake images
nissan has warned owners of older vehicles to stop driving cars equipped with recalled and unrepaired Takata airbags, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Wednesday.
NHTSA said the Japanese automaker's “Do Not Drive” alert applies to 83,920 cars. Affected cars include 2002-2006 Nissan Sentra, 2002-2004 Nissan Pathfinder, and 2002-2003 Infiniti QX4 vehicles that may have Takata airbags that were recalled in 2020.
Nissan shares fell almost 3% during Wednesday's session after the warning.
“NHTSA urges all vehicle owners to immediately check their vehicle for an open Takata airbag recall,” NHTSA said in a statement. “If you have one of these vehicles, do not drive it until the repair is completed and the defective airbag is replaced.”
Nissan and Infiniti will offer affected owners free towing and mobile device repair, as well as loaner cars at select locations. Infiniti is a division of Nissan.
“Due to the age of vehicles equipped with defective Takata airbag inflators, there is an increased risk of the inflator exploding during airbag deployment, launching sharp metal fragments that can cause serious injury or death.” , a Nissan spokesperson told CNBC in a statement. .
According to NHTSA, 27 people in the United States were confirmed to have died due to the explosion of a defective Takata airbag. At least 400 other people were reportedly injured, according to NHTSA.
At least 67 million Takata airbag inflators have been recalled domestically, and more than 100 million have been recalled worldwide, making it one of the largest automotive safety recalls in the world. the history.
In 2017, Takata filed for bankruptcy in Japan and the United States after agreeing to pay $1 billion in criminal penalties linked to its allegedly fraudulent conduct in sales of its defective airbag inflators.
