Honda Philippines announces Civic, CRV recall

Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. has announced a voluntary recall of 9,743 units of 2001 and 2002 Honda Civic vehicles and 2002 CR-V vehicles sold in the country in 2001 and 2002, due to the faulty inflation device of the front passenger airbag. "These units are all locally manufactured here in the Philippines. But the defective part, the airbag inflators, are made in South America. It took us 10 years to detect this problem since we have not encountered any complaints.We just chanced upon this during a car disintegration procedure in Japan," Honda head of sales MJ de Vera said in a briefing Thursday. The company's findings showed that the inflator could rupture due to an excessive increase in pressure when the airbag is deployed. This is part of a global recall of Honda vehicles for having faulty front passenger airbags. According to the company, it will replace, free of charge, the inflator of all affected Honda models. Owners of the vehicles will be notified through phone by Honda dealers beginning Friday. Letters of Notice will be also be sent. Honda's 28 dealers and three service centers will be equipped to replace the faulty item by April 19, through a procedure that will not take an hour. The repair of the affected vehicles will start on April 22. Car owners may call their dealers for a service appointment, or the company hotline 1-800-1000-HONDA (46632) and (02) 857-7240. They may also email customer_relations@hondaphil.com, or visit the company website for details. — BM, GMA News