Mazda recalls almost 80,000 cars, trucks

Mazda Australia has recalled more than 79,000 vehicles due to potentially lethal problems with driver's airbags supplied by Japanese company Takata, bringing to about 740,000 the number of vehicles involved in Australia and more than 50 million globally.

The latest vehicles affected are previous models of Mazda6 sedan, hatch and wagon (MY2005-2009), plus the RX-8 coupe, the B2500 and B2600 ute, T-Series cab-chassis and E-Series van.

Mazda says some of the vehicles affected by the latest safety recall were also involved in a previous recall of 4650 Mazda6s and 11 RX-8s last June, but that the "vast majority" of vehicles are not.

"Excessive internal pressure could potentially be created in the inflator installed in the front driver air bag at the time of air bag deployment. As a result, the body of the inflator may rupture upon deployment," said Mazda in its official recall notice today.

"The ruptured inflator may create metallic fragments that could contact an occupant, increasing the risk of injury."

Models affected are the Mazda6 (GG1031) Sedan, Mazda6 (GY1031) Wagon/Hatch, RX-8 (FE1031) Coupe, E-Series (SK) Van, T-Series (SY) Cab Chassis, B2500 (UN) Ute/Cab Chassis and B2600 (UN) Ute/Cab Chassis sold between August 22, 2002 and November 19, 2007.

Also involved are the Mazda6 (GG1032) Sedan/Hatch, Mazda6 (GY1032) Wagon, Mazda6 Diesel (GG10R2) Hatch and Mazda6 Diesel (GY10R2) Wagon sold between April 28, 2006 and March 30, 2009.

Affected models sold between July 29, 2005 and November 19, 2007 include the Mazda6 (GG1032) Sedan/Hatch and Mazda6 (GY1032) Wagon.

Mazda Australia says no injuries have been recorded locally and that it will contact all affected customers by mail as soon as parts become available, which may not be until next year.

Mazda is the latest in a long line of car-makers to announce safety recalls related to the Takata airbag saga in Australia.

The list of vehicles now affected in Australia is as follows:

Chrysler 300C 2005-2010
BMW 3 Series 1998-2005
Honda Accord 2001-2006
Honda Accord Euro 2004-2007
Honda Civic 2004-2005
Honda CR-V 2002-2008
Honda Jazz 2004-2009
Honda MDX 2003-2006
Lexus SC430 2003-2007
Mazda6 2002-2007
Mazda B2500/2600 2002-2007
Mazda E-Series 2002-2007
Mazda T-Series 2002-2007
Mazda RX-8 2002-2007
Mercedes-Benz SL 2014
Mercedes-Benz SLK 2014
Nissan Maxima 2001-2007
Nissan Micra 2010-2011
Nissan Navara 2001-2007
Nissan Patrol 2001-2007
Nissan Pulsar 2001-2007
Nissan X-TRAIL 2001-2007
Subaru Impreza 2004-2007
Toyota Avensis 2003-2007
Toyota Corolla 2003-2007
Toyota Echo 2003-2005
Toyota RAV4 2003-2005
Toyota Yaris 2005-2007