• Electric Tesla bursts the market: the Model 3 already costs almost the same as an electric utility
  • Takata Road Safety 'explodes' like its airbags

The famous, unfortunately, airbags of the Japanese company Takata are again protagonists. Now, it has been the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) that has warned of the danger of security failures in these elements that could affect up to 300,000 cars of the Audi, BMW and Skoda brands sold in Spain and manufactured between 2004 and 2017. As long as they are equipped with bags from the Japanese manufacturer.

Specifically, the warning has started from the rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products of the European Union (formerly known as RAPEX). The problem is that, with the passage of time, the airbag, or the propeller in other models, can deteriorate. And that, if deployed, have excessive internal pressure that could explode the body of the inflator, so that metal fragments could pass through the cushion material and cause injury to the occupants. In the US, there were several cases of fatalities.

The launch of these alerts part of the manufacturers themselves, so the OCU understands that both Audi and BMW and Skoda will already be contacting the users of the affected vehicles to solve the problem, which should be done free of charge and as soon as possible.

In any case, it is recommended to ask customer service if your vehicle is among those affected by the revision, especially if it was acquired second-hand; In this case it is most likely that the owner is not in the database of the brand.

Affected Audi models

* Audi A4, S4, A4 Cabriolet, S4 Cabriolet, RS4, RS4 Cabriolet, Audi A6, S6, A6 Allroad Quattro and RS6 manufactured between 23 February 2004 and August 2011.

* A5, Q5, Q5 Hybrid, SQ5 TDI, SQ5 TDI plus manufactured between 13 September 2008 and 26 November 2012.

* TTS Coupé, TT Coupé, TTS Roadster, TT Roadster, TT RS Coupé, TT RS Roadster, R8 Coupé, R8 Spyder manufactured between 3 September 2014 and 11 February 2017.

Affected BMW models

BMW 1 Series, BMW 2 Series 2, BMW 2 Active Tourer/Gran Tourer, BMW 3 Series, BMW 4 Series, BMW 5 Series, BMW 6 Series; BMW X1, X3, X4, X5, X6 and the BMW M2, M3, M4 and X5M manufactured between February 2012 and December 2014.

Skoda cars affected

Skoda Citigo, Roomster, Fabia II, Fabia III, Rapid, Yeti, Kodiaq, Octavia III, Superb II, Superb III manufactured between 1 June 2012 and 15 December 2017.

  • Motor industry
  • Audi
  • Skoda
  • Traffic
  • Traffic accidents
  • HBPR

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Learn more