AUTOFORUM - Informed and innovative

Honda's Update On The Airbag Recall

Oct 12, 2015 Airbags, Recall, Honda


Honda in the U.S. has released a statement regarding its progress in tackling the Takata airbag issue that plagued it over the last year. It said that it "is making steady progress in our continued effort to reach as many customers affected by Takata airbag inflator recalls as possible, and to rapidly repair their vehicles. Yet, with so many customers still needing to bring their vehicles in for repair, we continue to initiate new outreach activities. In recent months, Honda and Acura dealers across the United States have replaced upwards of 24,000 Takata airbag inflators on a daily basis. In total, more than 3.5 million defective Takata inflators have now been replaced."

It adds: "As of October 5, our national recall repair completion rate stands at 38.6%. Moreover, in high absolute humidity zones, areas believed to pose the greatest risk of inflator rupture, our recall repair completion rate is 41%. But with millions of vehicles still in need of repair, we must do more. And with additional replacement inflator supplies from Daicel, Autoliv and TRW now readily available, we are well positioned to manage incoming demand. Despite the risks involved, experience has shown us that many customers, particularly owners of older model vehicles, do not always respond to these calls-to-action. So, to continuously reinforce the need to act, we are consistently looking for and using creative strategies to reach customers, including the following:

  • This week, we initiated a new round of print, digital and radio advertising in select, test markets. The goal is to evaluate the effectiveness of these efforts to rapidly raise mass awareness, locally.
  • We have found that social media is an effective way to raise awareness, as users comment and share posts with their friends and family members who drive affected vehicles. So, we are in the process of initiating a new wave of sponsored, customized Facebook posts targeting individual affected owners that mention the model owned by each identified user.
  • Honda Customer Relations continues to respond quickly to thousands of customer questions and concerns each day. In October, Honda's Customer Service Twitter account (@HondaCustSvc) changed its banner image to raise attention to Takata airbag inflator recalls, and pinned a Tweet explaining how to quickly check a vehicle for open recalls online.

Across Honda, we've mobilized and provided nearly 30,000 U.S. associates with materials to help them raise awareness among their own friends and family. This campaign has resulted in a significant number of additional repairs to date.

With the understanding that word of mouth communication is effective, please join us in urging the public to continuously check their vehicles for open recalls, and if necessary, to take immediate action to complete the repair."

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