As fears rise in other jurisdictions, spurred by a massive recall of defective airbags across 11 international car manufacturers, one Bahamian car dealer says he and his colleagues are awaiting word on where the affected cars were sold.
The defective airbags have been linked with three deaths and scores of injuries around the world.
Rick Lowe, operations manager at Nassau Motor Company (NMC), told Guardian Business yesterday that he was aware of the recall of millions of vehicles with defective Takata airbags, but lacked the requisite information to issue a local recall notice. He said he was waiting for the manufacturers to identify where the affected vehicles had been sold.
"Manufacturers are required to send us a list of affected vehicles that were sold into this market by us. We have recalls on other airbags that we're contacting our customers on, but this new recall that just happened is something we don't have details on yet," said Lowe.
In the meantime, Lowe
advised owners of imported at-risk vehicles to contact their dealerships.
"We don't know what people are importing. There's nothing we can do in those cases, unfortunately. If there is an issue, if they see their car listed, I would contact the dealer where they bought it," he said.
Automotive regulators have suggested that high humidity could cause widely used Takata airbag propellants to explode, effectively sending shrapnel through vehicles.
The faulty airbags are already responsible for three deaths and over 100 injuries, according to a recent report by The New York Times.
U.S. senators yesterday reprimanded the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for allowing car manufacturers to only issue recalls in areas of the U.S. with "high humidity".
Over 14 million vehicles from 11 manufacturers have been recalled since 2008 due to the faulty airbags.
Honda alone has recalled over 2.4 million U.S. vehicles in at-risk states, including Alabama, California and South Carolina.
Although the affected manufacturers' recall efforts outside of the U.S. remain unclear, two U.S. overseas territories, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, have already received substantial recall notifications.
A New York Times article recently compiled a list of recalled vehicles. Popular vehicle brands affected by the faulty airbags include Honda Civic (2001-2005), Nissan Maxima (2001-2003), and Toyota Corolla (2022-2005).
Given the wide range of affected vehicles already placed on Takata's recall list and the United States recall efforts in nearby jurisdictions, it stands to reason that The Bahamas is similarly at risk.
However, Lowe stated that Bahamian automotive dealers have to wait on official recall notices from the responsible manufacturers.
"Unfortunately, once the NHTSA makes a ruling then the information comes out to the field, it's announced to the press and then the manufacturers have to get out to their suppliers," Lowe said.
He affirmed that NMC is prepared to contact its clients pending its manufacturers' decisions.
"It's usually a quick process. The process is there, it's a very professional process and we have to live up to our obligation as soon as we get the notice," said Lowe.
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