Ford expands Takata airbag recall to 816,000 vehicles

US auto giant Ford Motor Company said Thursday it was expanding its safety recall of some defective airbag inflators from Japanese parts maker Takata. The action extends the recall to about 816,000 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brand vehicles built in North America and sold in the United States and Canada for various model years between 2005 and 2012.
"This action represents primarily a planned expansion of previously recalled vehicles to new geographic regions," the company said in a statement. The latest recall concerned certain frontal airbag inflators on the passenger side of the vehicles but the company was not aware of any injuries tied to them, the statement said. Takata, which has 20 percent of the global market for seatbelts and airbags, has been ensnared since 2013 in a scandal over airbags blamed for exploding with deadly force, sending metal shards into passenger compartments. Most major manufacturers have been affected in what has been described as the largest-ever auto safety recall. The airbags have been linked to 11 deaths world-wide and 100 injuries around the world.