Honda Recalls Additional 378,000 Vehicles in US Over Air Bags

(Dow Jones Newswires) -- Honda have expanded a previous recall to include an additional 378,758 vehicles in the U.S., saying it is aware of 12 incidents related to the possibility that the driver-side airbags could rupture and cause injury, Dow Jones Newswires reported Tuesday.

"We have concluded that we cannot be completely certain that the driver's airbag inflator in the vehicles being added to the recall at this time will perform as designed," the company said in a statement.

The recall now covers some 2001 and 2002 Accord, Civic, Odyssey and CR-V models and some 2002 Acura TL vehicles as well as one Honda Pilot and one Acura CL, each produced in late 2002.

Owners of those vehicles should take them to an authorized dealer as soon as they receive notification from Honda that their vehicle is affected. Notification will start this month.

The potential defect involves the driver's-side airbag inflators, which when triggered on impact in a collision, could produce excessive pressure and cause metal fragments to pass through the airbag, thereby rupturing it.

Honda launched a recall of 4,000 vehicles in November 2008 and expanded it to 440,000 additional ones in July.

The car maker said it is not aware of any new events involving the airbag inflators occurring after July.

"However, we have concluded that we cannot be completely certain that the driver's airbag inflator in the vehicles being added to this recall at this time will perform as designed," it added.

Honda's American Depositary Shares (ADS) fell one per cent to US$34.16 in after-hours trading. The ADS have gained 37 per cent in the past year.