Honda extends airbag recall to Canada; 700K vehicles affected

TORONTO—An airbag recall fiasco playing out in the United States is now extending north of the border, with Honda Canada Inc. announcing plans to replace mechanisms in some 700,000 vehicles.

The automaker announced it is recalling approximately 700,000 vehicles in Canada to replace airbag inflators blamed in four deaths and a number of injuries in the U.S.

No injuries or deaths related to the problem have been reported in Canada, according to Honda.

The action by Honda is part of a worldwide recall safety campaign initiated over concerns about airbags made by Takata Corp., which can inflate with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister and spewing shrapnel.

Honda, like other automakers, had previously limited the recalls to high-humidity areas, where investigations have shown that the airbag inflator propellant, ammonium nitrate, can burn faster than designed if exposed to prolonged high humidity, causing airbags to inflate too quickly.

However, last week, Honda announced it was expanding its recall of certain 2001 to 2010 Honda and Acura vehicles to all 52 U.S. states and, this week, further widened the recall to include Canada.

“This action is being taken to address the concerns of our customers residing outside the regions of high temperature and high absolute humidity, thereby supporting the ongoing investigation,” Honda said in a statement.

The vehicles being recalled in Canada include 2001 to 2007 Honda Accords with four-cylinder engines; 2001 to 2002 Honda Accords with V6 engines; 2001 to 2005 Honda Civics; 2002 to 2006 Honda CR-Vs; 2003 to 2010 Honda Elements; 2002 to 2004 Honda Odysseys; 2003 to 2007 Honda Pilots; 2006 Honda Ridgelines; 2003 to 2006 Acura MDXs; 2002 to 2003 Acura TLs; and 2002 Acura CLs.

The Civic and CR-V are assembled by Honda in Alliston, Ont., while the Odyssey, Ridgeline, Pilot and MDX have all been previously built in the province.

With files from Canadian Manufacturing Staff