A Nissan Sentra is for sale in Evanston, Illinois, on November 12, 2010.
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April The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is warning owners of older vehicles not to leave driving vehicles equipped with recalled and unrepaired Takata airbags, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Wednesday.
The Japanese automaker's “do not drive” advisory applies to 83,920 vehicles, NHTSA said. Affected vehicles include the 2002-2006 Nissan Sentra, 2002-2004 Nissan Pathfinder, and 2002-2003 Infiniti QX4 vehicles that may contain Takata airbags that were recalled in 2020.
Nissan stock closed Wednesday's session down nearly 3% after the warning.
“NHTSA urges all vehicle owners to immediately check to see if their vehicle has an open Takata airbag recall,” NHTSA said in a statement. “If you have one of these vehicles, do not drive it until the repair has been completed and the defective airbag has been replaced.”
Nissan and Infiniti will provide affected owners with free mobile towing and repair, as well as vehicle loaners at select locations. Infiniti is a subsidiary of Nissan.
“Due to the age of vehicles equipped with the defective Takata airbag inflator, there is an increased risk that the inflator will explode during airbag deployment, propelling sharp metal fragments that can cause serious injury or death,” a Nissan spokesperson told CNBC in a statement. .
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 27 people have been confirmed killed in the United States due to the explosion of a defective Takata airbag. At least 400 others were injured, the NHTSA reported.
At least 67 million Takata air bag inflators have been recalled in the country, and more than 100 million have been recalled worldwide, making it one of the largest automotive safety recalls in history.
In 2017, Takata filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan and the United States after agreeing to pay $1 billion in criminal penalties related to its alleged fraudulent conduct in sales of defective air bag inflators.
