The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released comprehensive state-by-state data detailing recall rates for deadly Takata airbags, and the first data detailing progress made by various vehicle manufacturers in removing them from Australian cars.
The ACCC says 1.8 million potentially deadly airbags still need replacing as part of a compulsory recall that will run until 2020.
Over the past 12 months, 1.1 million faulty Takata airbags have been replaced in around 930,000 vehicles.
New data provided by vehicle manufacturers shows the location of all known registered vehicles and number of airbag inflators affected that require a replacement.
Despite good progress, ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard is warning motorists not to be complacent about having airbags replaced.
"Don't ignore or delay responding to a letter or call from your car's manufacturer asking you to have your airbag replaced. The airbags degrade over time and can become lethal by misdeploying and firing metal shards at the car's occupants," Ms Rickard said.
The most dangerous airbags, known as "alpha" airbags, were fitted to about 115,000 cars, with around 19,500 still potentially on the roads. These airbags require urgent replacement and drivers should not drive cars containing these airbags until they have been fixed.
"Our greatest concern remains around the alpha airbags, which can still be found in almost 20,000 cars. Make no mistake, these airbags can kill and our advice is for consumers to check our website to see if your car is affected by this recall. If your car contains an alpha airbag, it should not be driven."
Suppliers were not required to commence recalling vehicles until 1 July, although some began earlier.
Ms Rickard welcomed the launch of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries national consumer awareness campaign 'Faulty airbags? Don't die wondering' and new online tool, www.ismyairbagsafe.com.au and text service 0427 AIRBAG.
"The website provides an easy place to enter your car's number plate to check if it's affected and I encourage everyone who owns a car to visit this site," Ms Rickard said.
For more information about the recall visit the Product Safety Australia website www.productsafety.gov.au Regular updates will be published on the Takata recalls progress data page.
Background
This month marks the one year anniversary since the ACCC's Takata Taskforce began its safety investigation. Under the voluntary recall that began in 2009, some 950,000 airbags were replaced.
On 28 February 2018 the Assistant Minister to the Treasurer, the Hon Michael Sukkar issued a compulsory recall notice for vehicles containing faulty Takata airbags, following the ACCC's safety investigation.
The compulsory recall requires Suppliers to replace all faulty Takata airbags in Australian vehicles by 31 December 2020 (unless varied by application and approved by the ACCC). Some vehicles will be recalled immediately, and others on a rolling basis, according to various factors including relative safety risk. This means that not all vehicles will be recalled straight away.
The global recall of Takata airbags is the largest in history and has affected millions of Australians.
Where are the vehicles that still need airbag(s) replaced?
• NSW: 448,237 (including 5,174 alpha airbags)
• Vic: 400,264 (including 4,532 alpha airbags)
• Qld: 288,520 (including 2,505 alpha airbags)
• WA: 144,219 (including 1,156 alpha airbags)
• SA: 92,882 (including 617 alpha airbags)
• Tas: 33,851 (including 244 alpha airbags)
• ACT: 27,739 (including 241 alpha airbags)
• NT: 9,846 (including 117 alpha airbags)
• Other*: 147,646 (including 4,693 alpha airbags)
*Where vehicle location/postcode is unknown or has not been supplied by the vehicle manufacturer.
The ACCC has published the number of cars each manufacturer needs to recall and at which stage of the recall process they are at.
Toyota (including the luxury model Lexus) has been the most affected with 582,000 cars needing airbag replacement, followed by Honda at 436,000 and Holden with 330,000.
Mazda has the highest replacement rate at 84 per cent, followed by Honda (Source: ACCC).
Suppliers were not required to commence recalling vehicles until 1 July, although some began earlier. The information below is correct as of 30 June 2018 and will be updated regularly to track replacement rates.
Here are the suppliers with the highest number of cars still needing airbag replacement.
• Holden 330,989
• Nissan 245,376
• Toyota (including Lexus) 192,184
• Subaru 161,222
• Mercedes 116,941
• Honda (cars) 112,027
• Volkswagen 102,078
• Ford 88,977
• Mitsubishi 69,370
• Mazda 46,788
• Audi 40,106
• Fiat Chrysler 20,095
• Skoda 17,605
• Jaguar Land Rover 17,454
• Citroen 3,292
• Tesla 1,263
• Ferrari 948
• Honda MPE (motorbikes) 62
(Source: ACCC)
