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Mazda SA probes 1.6m more bag recalls

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese automaker Mazda is recalling another 1.6-million cars equipped with Takata crash bags, bringing its global total to an estimated 2.02 million.

Mazda's latest recall includes 465 000 vehicles in the US and 76 000 in Japan for the model years 2003-08 but did not disclose where the remaining vehicles were sold.

NEVER-ENDING CRISIS

Mazda South Africa says it is investigating if and which local models are affected and will confirm with Wheels24 later in the week. The Mazda6 has been affected in a previous recall and is likely to be extended with the new announcement, but no BT-50 bakkies are currently affected.

The announcement is the latest chapter in a snowballing crisis for Tokyo-based Takata which agreed to double a US recall in May 2015 to a record nearly 34-million vehicles.

The defect - thought to be linked to a chemical propellant that helps inflate the airbags - can cause them to deploy with explosive force, sending metal shrapnel hurtling toward drivers and passengers.

At least six deaths but many more injuries have been linked to Takata-made bags in cars assembled by almost a dozen automakers, among them Honda, Toyota, General Motors and BMW.

Mazda's expanded US recall covers the Mazda6 for the model years 2003-08, the RX-8 from 2004-08, the Mazdaspeed6 2006/7 and Mazda B-series bakkies from 2004-06.


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