Toyota recalls 600,000 more vehicles in U.S. due to airbag problem

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Toyota Motor North America announced Tuesday it was expanding its safety recall involving Takata front passenger airbag inflators as required by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The expansion involves approximately 601,300 additional vehicles in the United States, Toyota said.

Takata and its U.S. entity TK Holdings Inc filed for bankruptcy in June. The Japanese auto-parts giant said it was recalling more than 100 million of its air bag inflators across the world through the end of 2019.

By the end of November 2017, 19 automakers had recalled 46 million Takata inflators in 34 million U.S. vehicles, according to NHTSA.

Takata agreed in 2016 to plead guilty to wire fraud and pay a total of 1 billion dollar in criminal penalties to resolve a U.S. Justice Department investigation. Enditem