The Japanese automaker said Thursday it is expanding its Takata-related recalls after a driver in Malaysia died in an air bag-linked accident earlier this year.Honda spokeswoman Misato Fukushima said the latest death, in July, was thought to have been caused by a faulty Taktata bag.
That brings to five the number of deaths possibly caused by faulty Takata bags. Honda says three definitely are linked, and is probing two others.
STORY: Takata accused of lengthy cover-up
Honda, which has reported the biggest number of recalls related to defective air bags, said it is recalling 70,979 more vehicles outside the U.S. -- 22,607 of its Fit Aria subcompact and 48,190 of its That's model.
STORY: Takata books big losses over bag problem
The airbags, made by Japanese manufacturer Takata, have faulty inflators that can explode, hurling shrapnel toward drivers and passengers.
Worldwide estimates of cars affected by Takata-related recalls range from 12 million to 17 million.
The recalls involve 10 automakers including Toyota Motor. and General Motors, and stretch across three continents.
About 8 million of the recalls are in the United States.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent what amount to "hurry-up" letters dated Oct. 29 to 10 automakers that have recalled cars because of Takata airbags, saying "more can and should be done," and, "we urge you to take aggressive and proactive action to expedite" replacement of Takata bags in the recalled vehicles.
The same day, NHTSA Deputy Administration David Friedman wrote Kazuo Higuchi, senior vice president at TK Holdings, which is Takata's U.S. operation, saying NHTSA isn't convinced Takata is able to make enough replacement bags to handle the big recall.
He cited problems with the bags and said he is "deeply troubled by this situation because of the potential for death and injury as well as the erosion of public confidence in a proved life-saving technology."
He demanded weekly meetings with Takata until the issues surrounding the recalls are resolved.
Karl Brauer, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book, says the Takata bag defect, and reports that the company hid the problem, "could potentially destroy the company. This ongoing series of Takata recalls over the last six years, and the ever-expanding scope of the problem, has been suspicious at best. It gives the impression of a possible attempt to mitigate publicity by doing piecemeal recalls rather than acknowledging the massive scale of the issue in a single announcement."
A deliberate delay in notifying its automaker customers of a problem amounts to "raising Takata's legal liability to a devastating level," he said.
Toyota has told its dealers to disable the airbags in recalled models if the dealers don't have parts to fix them, and to put warning stickers on the dashboard. Toyota and GM are telling owners to forbid people from riding in the front passenger seat until the recall work is done, because the danger from the Takata passenger bags is so great.
Takata CEO Shigehisa Takada apologized for the problems with the air bags in a statement issued Thursday, saying his company was determined to prevent further problems.
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