Honda Motor (HMC) Tails Ford Motor (F) And Others, Upgrades To Recall Over Airbag Issue

Honda Motor Co Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:HMC) is following the likes of Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) as it upgrades the status of its airbag issue campaign in the U.S. to a formal recall, Bloomberg’s Craig Trudell said in a report on On The Move Asia.

Honda Motor Co Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:HMC) is the most affected by this issue linked to faulty airbag modules made by Japanese supplier Takata Corp though companies like Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), General Motors, Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi are also affected.

According to Trudell, the change in the type of campaign Honda Motor Co Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:HMC) is making in the U.S. is an important one as it highlights a semantic shift

“Previously they were calling it sort of a ‘safety improvement campaign’. There’s a little bit stricter rules and regulations that are involved if you make this move up,” he said.

Nonetheless, he said that Honda Motor Co Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:HMC) has not expanded the models of cars that are found to have the issue. He said, however, that this should have been done months or even years ago if some safety advocates were to be asked.

The Honda cars involved in the issue are the Accord made from 2001 to 2007, the Civic made from 2001 to 2005, the CR-V from model years 2002 through 2006, the Odyssey made from 2002 to 2004, the Element from 2003 to 2011, the Pilot from 2003 to 2007 and the Ridgeline of model year 2006.

Including Acura which lists the 2002 to 2003 CL and TL, the 2003 to 2006 MDX and the 2005 RL as affected vehicles, Honda has over 5 million vehicles involved in the recall. Honda makes two of the top 10 best-selling cars of 2014.

Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) cars affected in the recall are the Ranger model from 2004, the GT model made from 2005 to 2006 and the Mustang model made from 2005 to 2007.

Adage Capital Management Lp managed by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson reported owning about 5.91 million Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) shares by the end of the second quarter.

Honda Motor Co Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:HMC) investors includes Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies which reported owning 984,400 shares in the automaker by June 30.