Two decades after air bags began widely appearing in vehicles, tucked into steering wheels and dashboards, automakers are racing to add more bags in more places to appeal to safety-conscious consumers.
Today, air bags are moving under the dashboard, into the back seat and under seat cushions. Eventually, they could even end up in seat belts to keep occupants in place during crashes.
Last month, Toyota Motor Corp. said its 2008 Lexus LX 570 SUV will come with 10 air bags as standard equipment -- the most available in any vehicle from any automaker. Across the industry, an increasing number of companies are offering eight air bags in many models, including BMW, Hyundai Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz unit and Volkswagen's Audi.
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