BMW is one of many carmakers supplied with defective airbag inflators by Takata. Already BMW has recalled more than 1,600,000 vehicles to replace the passenger-side airbags, and the company is now considering replacing driver-side airbags on the recalled models as well.
Takata is required to provide BMW and every other involved car manufacturer with replacement airbag inflators, all of which were scheduled to be made at Takata’s factory in Monclova, Mexico.
Not good enough, said BMW. According to Automotive News, BMW wants replacement airbags going into BMWs to have inflators made in Takata’s plant in Freiburg, Germany. The trouble is, the Takata facility in Germany doesn’t make airbag inflators; it produces other electronics. That’s okay, said BMW; we’ll help you move the production facilities from Mexico to Germany but—and it’s a big but—the increased production must be reserved for BMW.
As reported by Autoevolution.com, Takata can make about 200 inflators per hour per production line and it has two production lines. At that rate it could make 1,000,000 new inflators in five months. That would leave Takata a little short, since it needs about 32,000,000 inflators to meet the demand for recalled airbags. It’s doubtful the world’s carmakers—not to mention the U.S. Senate—is prepared to wait thirteen years to ultimately fix this airbag problem.
Autoevolution goes on to say that Takata spokesperson Alby Berman has confirmed that production of inflators dedicated to BMW is moving from Mexico to Germany. If they hurry, it’s possible German-produced inflators to meet BMW recalls could start showing up in dealers by the end of the year.
BMW described the recall as a precautionary measure and that it was not aware of any BMW in customer hands experiencing an air bag inflator malfunction.
Is Your BMW In The Recall?
Click here to find out if your specific BMW is involved in the recall.
Other auto manufacturers are also considering extraordinary action to fix the airbag recall problem. For example, Honda, Ford, and Toyota looked into using manufacturers other than Takata to build the required parts, but that might require engineering changes to their cars. Also considered was having other companies manufacture inflators identical to Takata’s (hopefully improved) specifications, but that process could take up to a year.
The feeling from industry observers is that Takata will probably be building all the replacement inflators and it will be up to Takata to figure out solutions to its production and supply problems. If BMW is helping Takata set up production in Germany in return for priority on new inflators, then BMW may be in better shape than most.—Scott Blazey
Airbag Recall Timeline.
The airbag recall drama has been ongoing for some time. Click here for the detailed timeline, as reported by Reuters and Automotive News.
[Photo courtesy of Jens Meyer/AP via Autoblog.]
