Defective Takata airbags count lower than estimate

Only 67% of the initial estimate given for defective airbags need a recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported Tuesday that 23.4 million inflators are in need of repair.

This number covers 11 different car manufacturers and is much lower than the original estimate of 34 million. Around 4 million airbags need repair and 19 million vehicles are involved in the recall.

NHTSA further clarified that the number of inflators in question was improved after manufacturers examined closer the particular models involved.

Inflators produced by Takata have been blamed responsible for 130 injuries and 8 deaths. At the present, there are already 4.4 million inflators that have been changed.

An unnamed official told Bloomberg that the NHTSA's findings confirmed Takata's results that the inflator defects has something to do with prolonged exposure to moisture and high humidity coupled with age.

All of these conditions can change the chemical composition of the inflator's ammonium nitrate propellant. More investigations will be done in order to confirm that the replacement airbags will solve the problem permanently.

In connection to the investigations, NHTSA will hold a public hearing come fall, to let the public know about the results as well as the next steps they plan to do. The agency is collaborating recall repairs with the car manufacturers and Takata, which is its first time to use its authority to coordinate and arrange repairs.

Takata is still under NHTSA's investigation to see if it violated the Motor Vehicle Safety Act. Such violation involves inability to report defects to regulators on time and would lead to penalties of tens of millions of dollars. One such example is Fiat Chrysler Automobile's record penalty of $105 million.

NHTSA also confirmed that Takata and Volkswagen have detected failures in seat-mounted airbags in their testing for quality control. The said defect investigation was announced last August 17.