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MAZDA and other high-volume Japanese car brands in Australia are currently leading the industry in terms of completion rates for the compulsory Takata airbag recall, but a huge amount of work is still to be done with more than 600,000 potentially lethal airbags remaining in more than half a million vehicles as at June 30 this year.

The affected car companies are legally required to replace all defective airbags as soon as possible ahead of the December 31, 2020, deadline – which can be varied through an application to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) – and significant programs are continuing in an effort to source the remaining 15 per cent of airbags, which do not include vehicles already identified as written-off, scrapped, stolen or modified so that the airbag cannot be replaced.

This is a very costly and time-consuming process for the car companies and their dealer networks, and the latest figures provide an insight into where each of the brands are at with the recall – and the steep hill-climb still ahead for many.

Mixed bag: At 93.99 per cent, Mazda currently has the highest completion rate for the Takata airbag recall among the car companies in Australia, while Mercedes-Benz is the lowest at 53.17 per cent.

GM Holden has the highest number of cars still to be rectified – 115,760 – after already replacing the airbags in 63.22 per cent of the total 314,724 lion-badged vehicles affected.

This is well behind brands with a completion rate of more than 90 per cent – Mazda (93.99%, from 273,778 vehicles), Honda (91.83%, from 379,677), Mitsubishi (90.94%, from 164,737) and Citroen at 91.18 per cent (from just 3185) – as well as others such as the market leader Toyota, which was the most heavily impacted by the recall with 538,861 vehicles involved and has managed to rectify 83.16 per cent, leaving it with 90,750 still to tackle.

Holden’s position is partly due to the fact that it was among a number of brands that did not commence recall action until it was made compulsory on July 1, 2018.

Of these, Mercedes-Benz has the lowest rate of completion as at June 30 this year – 53.17 per cent from a total of 115,548 vehicles, leaving it with 54,109 airbags to rectify – while Volkswagen is next on 56.92 per cent (from 99,699).

Among all remaining brands, regardless of when they started recalling cars, the completion rate rises to more than 70 per cent, with BMW – one of the earlier starters – at 73.39 per cent (from 195,321), VW Group Australia’s Czech brand Skoda at 76.62 per cent (from 17,441), Audi at 77.05 per cent (from 38,739) and Ferrari at 77.84 per cent (from 1196).

With less than 18 months to go before the ACCC’s deadline, that leaves seven other car companies with a completion rate of between 80 and 90 per cent.

These are: Nissan at 82.64 per cent (from 263,823); Ford at 83.81 per cent (from 86,014); Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, covering Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands, at 85.08 per cent (from 35,172); Subaru at 85.80 per cent (from 270,137); Tesla at 86.39 per cent (from 1242); Jaguar Land Rover at 88.85 per cent (from 17,525); and McLaren at 89.36 per cent (from 329).

Honda is also further impacted with its Goldwing motorcycle subject to the recall, although the ACCC figures show that only one vehicle is left to rectify from a total of 611.

While completion rates will continue to rise, the industry is facing the prospect of many vehicles subject to the recall remaining in the community with the original Takata airbags.

Among the difficulties is connecting with vehicle owners from regional and rural areas, and those with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

All vehicle owners are being urged to visit www.ismyairbagsafe.com.au and enter their registration number and state or territory to see if they are impacted.

Alternatively, a check can be conducted by texting TAKATA to 0487 AIRBAG (247 224).

As GoAuto has reported, there have been at least 26 deaths and more than 300 injuries caused worldwide by defective Takata airbag inflators.

In Australia, one person died and another was injured in separate incidents.

Replacement of airbags is free.

By Terry Martin

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