Products returns or recalls have gained considerable attention in the recent years especially owing to the pace at which they are increasing. Product recalls refer to the process through which traders recall problems they believe to have problems as well as those that might have devastating effects on the consumers. Today, recalls for both established and new products appear to be occurring frequently while they might pose serious consequences. In certain cases, they product recalls also destroy certain brands as well as even corporations. Additionally, a large number of firms are not adequately prepared to deal with the issue, mostly because they lack understanding of the impact that the recall would have on their reputation (Smith, Thomas, & Quelch, 2017) . Thus, the paper will discuss the case of Takata Corporation, a Japanese automotive parts company recently linked with recent recalls of airbag inflators utilized by various automotive manufacturers worldwide.
` The automotive sector is buzzing concerning the gigantic recall of airbags that have affected millions of vehicles across the U.S. and other parts of the world while affecting over two dozen vehicle brands. The issue has mostly arisen from the case of Takata Corporation for producing defective airbag inflators that have resulted to a series of injuries and deaths, thus forcing the firm to issue a notice of recalling more than 3.7 million vehicles equipped with the airbags. Additional fatalities resulting from the airbags have forced the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) to demand a continuing, countrywide recall over 42 million cars while approximately 7 million recalls have taken place globally, thereby leading the recall to be the biggest in the automotive history of the U.S. (Atiyeh & Blackwell, 2017)
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The major issue leading to the need for recalling the airbags manufactured by Takata Corporation is that they have defective inflators as well as propellant devices, which might deploy in an improper manner in case a crash happens. They end up shooting fragments of metal to the occupants of the vehicle. In this case, the heart of the manner links to the inflator of the airbag that comprises of a metal cartridge burdened with propellant wafers that have at times exploded with a tremendous force (Consumer Reports, 2017) . The metals sprayed to the cabin of the passenger poses catastrophic outcome from the devise whose purpose is to save lives. Moreover, determinations by the NHTSA reveal that the major cause of the problem emanates from the propellant that utilizes ammonium nitrate while it lacks any agent for drying chemicals. In this sense, moisture from the environment, age affiliated with the defect, as well as high temperatures lead the airbags to infiltrate improperly thus endangering the lives of the occupants. In the U.S. alone, reports of over 11 deaths as well as around 180 injuries exist because of the problem thus leading it to serve as a major hazard (Atiyeh & Blackwell, 2017) .
The recall of the airbags made by Takata have almost tripled during the last year via a number of announcements while additional inflator recalls are anticipated, especially because the overall airbag number is estimated to range from 65 to 70 million (Consumer Reports, 2017) . In this perspective, therefore, it is apparent that the airbags recalls by the Takata Corporation mostly result from the hazards they pose to vehicle occupants even in the event of minor crashes that would not put the vehicle occupants at risk. In addition, the metal fragments they throw toward passengers also put them at risk. Furthermore, the company has produced such products in the past, hence an indication that the firm needs to test its products carefully before releasing them to the public owing to the probable dangers they pose to passengers.
References
Atiyeh, C., & Blackwell, R. (2017). Massive Takata airbag recall: Everything you need to know, including full list of affected vehicles. Retrieved from http://blog.caranddriver.com/massive-takata-airbag-recall-everything-you-need-to-know-including-full-list-of-affected-vehicles/
Consumer Reports. (2017). Takata airbag recall - Everything you need to know. Retrieved from https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2016/05/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-takata-air-bag-recall/index.htm
Smith, N. C., Thomas, R. J., & Quelch, J. (2017). A strategic approach to managing product recalls. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/1996/09/a-strategic-approach-to-managing-product-recalls
