Mazda recalls cars in South Africa over airbag safety concerns

The Mazda Motor Corporation is recalling 19,000 cars in South Africa due to airbag safety concerns as the Japanese carmaker extends a global recall to cover a wider manufacturing period, its local unit said on Monday.

The recall was prompted by investigations in Japan and North America for three different types of Takata Corp-manufactured airbags over safety concerns that inflaters were defective.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in July that new testing was prompting Takata Corp to declare 2.7 million air bag inflators defective in Ford Motor Corp, Nissan Motor Corp and Mazda vehicles.

Takata air bag inflators have been linked to 17 deaths and more than 180 injuries worldwide, and the recalls will eventually cover about 125 million inflators.

In January, Takata entered a settlement with the US Department of Justice, setting aside $125 million to compensate consumers and $850 million in restitution for automakers.

Facing up to $50 billion in liability, Takata filed for bankruptcy in June in Japan and the US with a plan to sell its non-air bag operations for $1.6 billion to Key Safety Systems, which is owned by China's Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp. Its air bag business would continue to make replacements for the 125 million recalled inflators.

Takata said in its Chapter 11 filings that it would create a fund to compensate future injuries stemming from the air bags.