Ford expands recall for Ranger pickups with Takata airbags

DETROIT (Reuters) -- Ford Motor Co. is expanding a recall of vehicles with Takata Corp. airbags after an inflator exploded in a Ford Ranger last month and the driver was killed.U.S. safety regulators said last Friday an estimated 5 million vehicles would be recalled in the United States for potentially faulty driver-side airbag inflators made by Takata.The Friday announcement came just hours after federal regulators along with Takata and Ford officials inspected the 2006 Ford Ranger involved in a Dec. 22 fatality in South Carolina, said a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.Regulators have reported 10 deaths globally, including nine in the United States, linked to defective airbags with Takata inflators. It was also the first Takata-related fatality not in a car made by Honda Motor Co.Ford is the first automaker to announce a recall after the NHTSA said on Friday it would expand recalls by about 5 million vehicles and inflators. In all, the NHTSA expects that 28 million airbag inflators in as many as 24 million U.S. vehicles will have been recalled.Takata inflators -- metal cartridges loaded with propellant wafers -- in mostly older models that are exposed to moisture over time can explode with too much force, sending shrapnel into the vehicle, according to the NHTSA.Ford's recall announced today includes 391,354 Ford Rangers built in North America for model years 2004 to 2006 was for driver-side air bags.Of that total, 361,692 are in the United States and federalized territories and 29,334 in Canada, Ford said.All of the Rangers were previously recalled for potentially defective passenger-side airbag inflators, Ford said.

Ford expands recall for Ranger pickups with Takata airbags

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