Daimler, Volkswagen recall cars over Takata airbags

Recall involves Mercedes-Benz cars, Daimler vans, VWs

Daimler is recalling 840,000 cars and vans to replace Takata airbags that may be defective.

The recall affects about 705,000 Mercedes-Benz cars and around 136,000 Daimler vans in the United States, the German automaker said Wednesday.

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Meanwhile, Volkswagen said Wednesday that it was recalling 680,000 cars of its namesake brand in the United States because Takata-made airbags in them could be defective. The recall affects models built between 2006 and 2014, a spokesman said.

They are the latest is a series of recalls prompted by concerns about Takata's airbags.

Millions of cars have been recalled due to the risk of violent airbag explosions. But they were mostly older vehicles -- typically model years no later than 2008. U.S. regulators said last week that newer car models were also at risk.

Daimler said the recall was "precautionary" and would cost the company 340 million euros ($382 million). It said its 2015 net profit, reported last week, will be cut to 8.7 billion euros ($9.8 billion) as a result of the charge.

The Takata recall is one of the largest ever and affects some of the world's most recognizable automakers, including Honda, Ford, Nissan, and Toyota.

The Japanese auto parts manufacturer has been struggling for years to recover after its inflators were discovered to be defective. The airbags can explode when activated, firing out shards of metal that have caused death and injury at the wheel.

At least 10 deaths worldwide, nine of them in the U.S., have been tied to the exploding airbags, as well as numerous serious injuries.