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The worse isn’t over for Takata Corp. Recently, the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said that about 85 million airbag inflators inside vehicles in the US would have to be recalled if the company can’t prove they are safe.

According to a report by Reuters, the US government could require Takata to replace all of its inflators, which had a risk of exploding with too much force, spraying metal shards inside vehicles. So far, 11 people worldwide have been killed in incidents linked to defective Takata-made inflators, including in Malaysia.

The NHTSA said that from the number, 43.4 million consist of passenger side inflators, 26.9 million side air bag inflators and 14.5 million driver side inflators. Should a recall be required, it would add to the 28.8 million inflators that have been recalled in the US so far. This doesn’t include the recalls made in other affected countries.

As a recap, ammonium nitrate is used in the composition of Takata’s airbag propellant. When subjected to moisture and heat due to the inflator’s design, the propellant can be rendered unstable, and can cause the airbag inflators to explode with excessive force, spraying metal shrapnel inside the car.

Takata has already been fined a record USD$200 million (around RM779 million) by the NHTSA for violating the country’s Motor Vehicle Safety Act. The company’s financial woes will be made worse as it embarks on rectifying all known faulty airbags worldwide, a bill estimated to be around the USD$24 billion (around RM93 billion) mark.

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