Car Fule

This recall concerns the first generation of the Mazda 3, with 260,915 copies produced between 2003 and 2006. Indeed, it is a long history dating back almost six years, when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the US Federal Highway Safety Agency, has investigated cases where the steering wheel logo of the Mazda 3 shattered during the deployment of the airbag, producing fragments of plastic that could injure drivers in the face of the model.

Mazda 3: a faulty material

Mazda acknowledged that there was a problem with the material of the steering wheel logo, polyurethane, but that it did not pose a significant safety risk. In June 2006, an aesthetic modification of the logo led to a change of it for another version, made of polyester this time. The affected units were therefore produced between June 2003 and June 2006, while the other models in the range are not affected by the problem.

However, around ten incident reports were filed with the NHTSA between 2015 and 2019, and it was a serious case that occurred in March 2019 that relaunched a new investigation into this phenomenon, concluding that it was necessary for Mazda to put measures in place to ensure that the problem does not recur in the future.

The Japanese manufacturer has therefore recently recalled the 260,915 units concerned: all customers have to do is go to their Mazda dealership, where the airbag cover incorporating the defective logo will be replaced free of charge. Owners of affected models will be notified by mail by the end of the summer.

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