Japan banned certain Takata Corp. air bag inflators from future cars and set time frames for the components to be phased out from existing models, taking measures nearly identical to a U.S. regulator’s order one month ago.
Automakers won’t be allowed to use Takata air bag inflators with ammonium nitrate propellant in cars under development, Japan’s transport ministry said in a statement issued Friday in Tokyo. Inflators without a moisture-absorbing substance will be phased out from driver-side air bags by 2017 and passenger-side devices by 2018.
The air bag inflator ban and phase-out plan that applies even to models spared from air bags malfunctions follows similar enforcement action one month ago by the U.S.’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. After the agency’s order, carmakers including Honda Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. said they wouldn’t use Takata’s air bag inflators with ammonium nitrate propellant.
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