Honda Tackles Takata Recall With New Ads

Honda is turning to advertisements to make sure owners get their recalled vehicles fixed.

Starting on Monday, 30-second radio spots will begin playing in 110 different regional markets while full-page ads will run in 110 newspapers. Targeted Facebook ads will also be part of the campaign. Honda will prioritize the 11 high-humidity states and U.S. territories where cars are most likely to be affected.

Exploding airbag inflators that have been linked to at least six deaths are the issue and pressure is coming from U.S. auto safety regulators to get these recalls done. Roughly 17 million vehicles made by 10 different automakers are all being recalled in the U.S. over the problem. In the affected vehicles, metal shrapnel can fly out of the inflator at the car’s occupants.

SEE ALSO: Honda Won’t Use Takata Airbags in Next Accord

The pace of the recall has been hindered by a limited supply of replacement inflators. As of late February, just under two million of these vehicles had been fixed. NHTSA has already said that they may use regulatory power to order more replacement parts be built at a faster rate.

Honda alone has called back 5.4 million vehicles, only 340,123 of which have been fixed through the fourth quarter.

“The goals of this campaign are to save lives and prevent injuries,” said John Mendel, executive VP at American Honda automobiles. “These ads are a strong call to action from our company designed to break through the clutter, grab the attention of customers driving affected vehicles, and urge that they get required repairs as soon as possible,” said Mendel.

Honda owners can check their vehicles’ recall status at www.recalls.honda.com or by calling 1-800-999-1009, option 4. Acura owners can check their vehicles’ recall status at www.recalls.acura.com or by calling 1-800-382-2238, option 4.

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