Up to 3.39 million Japanese brand vehicles in airbag recall

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Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda have announced that they would recall a combined 3.39 million vehicles globally in accordance with local regulations, all citing the same malfunction of passenger-side airbags.

Japan's transport ministry, which received recall reports from the manufacturers, said the number of vehicles affected would reach 2.92 million. There was no explanation for the discrepancy in the total.

A Toyota spokesman said his company alone was recalling a total of 1.73 million vehicles, manufactured between November 2000 and March 2004 in Japan or abroad, due to a defect in passenger-side airbags.

"The involved vehicles are equipped with front passenger airbag inflators which could have been assembled with improperly manufactured propellant wafers," the statement said.

"Improperly manufactured propellant wafers could cause the inflator to rupture and the front passenger airbag to deploy abnormally in the event of a crash."

The company's spokesman in Japan said this abnormal inflation "could also burn part of the vehicle's inside and cause fire".

However, he said, there were no recorded instances of this happening.

Nissan and Honda released statements giving similar explanations.

A Nissan spokeswoman said the company was recalling a total of 480,000 vehicles globally, all of which were manufactured in Japan between August 2000 and January 2004.

Toyota and Nissan said the airbags were made by Tokyo-based Takata Corp.

Mazda said its recall target would reach 45,463 units worldwide, including 4,384 at home.