Ferrari Issues Airbag Recall

Luxury car maker Ferrari SpA is recalling eight new models to fix driver-side airbags supplied by Takata Corp. that were installed at an improper angle. The airbags were discovered when Ferrari was doing tests on a 458 Italia’s steering column, according to documents posted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website Friday. The airbag deployed in a rotated orientation, Ferrari said, which could cause injury.

The Italian manufacturer, owned by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, found that the leather skin covering the airbag module had been improperly glued and the airbag cushions had been installed at the wrong angle. The recall covers 814 vehicles made from December to April this year.

“The issue is a possible production defect in a component inside the airbags,” Ferrari spokeswoman Krista Florin said in an e-mailed statement. “Ferrari has immediately issued a recall for those cars to have the airbags in question replaced with conforming devices.” The defect isn’t the same as in the Takata airbags that have exploded and sent shrapnel toward drivers and passengers. That recall affects more than 34 million inflators worldwide and has been linked to at least seven fatalities.

No fatalities or injuries were reported in the documents Ferrari filed with the US regulator. As required by law, Ferrari will replace the driver-side air bags free of charge. The defect affects 2,600 vehicles worldwide, Florin said. In the US, Ferrari has issued stop-sale orders to dealers, and none of the affected cars will be sold before they’re fixed, she said.

The recall covers the 458 Italia, the 458 Spider, the 458 Speciale, the 458 Speciale A, the California T, the FF, the F12 Berlinetta and the LaFerrari. All the affected cars were manufactured between Dec. 19, 2014, and April 29, 2015. Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne said July 10 that an initial public offering for a spun off Ferrari SpA was “days away.”

-Bloomberg