Takata airbag recall could expand to seven more firms

The Takata air bag recall in the US is the biggest safety recall in its history

US regulators have told seven carmakers the recall of airbags made by Japanese firm Takata is likely to expand.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has written to firms including Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar-Land Rover and Tesla to ask which of their models use the Takata parts.

About 23.4 million Takata airbag inflators have been recalled in the US.

The airbags have been linked to eight deaths and more than 100 injuries around the world.

It was found they can inflate with excessive force, spraying metal shrapnel at the drivers.

The driver and passenger airbags were in more than 19 million cars sold by 11 different companies such as Honda in the US.

Airbag shortage

In the letters sent last week, the NHTSA said the recall "will likely grow to include vehicles that are outside the scope of the current recalls".

The agency will attend a public meeting in Washington on 22 October to discuss the Takata investigation and whether it will take over management of the recalls to speed up the repairs.

Carmakers are struggling to get parts with only 4.4 million airbag inflators replaced since the start of this month.

The other automakers that received the letters include Suzuki, Volvo Trucks, Volkswagen and Spartan Motors.

So far Mercedes, Jaguar-Land Rover and Tesla have all said the air bags they used from Takata are not part of current recalls, according to the Associated Press.