U.S. rejects Ford petition to delay airbag recall of 3 million cars

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Friday it was rejecting a petition byFord to delay recall of about 3 million cars with potentially defective Takata airbag inflators. The agency said it did not find the request by the second largest U.S. automaker to defer a recall until additional testing was conducted “reasonable under the circumstances or supported by the testing and data it has collected to date.”

Takata inflators can explode with excessive force, unleashing metal shrapnel inside cars and trucks. At least 18 deaths and 180 injuries worldwide have been tied to the defect that led Takata to file for bankruptcy protection in June and prompted at least 19 automakers to issue recalls. NHTSA also rejected a similar petition filed by Mazda covering about 6,000 vehicles. Ford did not immediately say if it plans to challenge the agency’s decision. “We will cooperate with the agency, as we always do,” a spokeswoman said. The vehicles in question include the 2007-11 Ford Ranger, 2006-12 Fusion and Lincoln MKZ, 2006-11 Mercury Milan, and 2007-10 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX. Read more