New Mercedes-Benz A-Class PHEV

New Mercedes-Benz A-Class PHEV

The new generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class will eventually go down the electrification road with not one, but two plug-in hybrid powertrains. Both will use of a 1.3-liter petrol engine, probably the one developed by Daimler and Renault, and an electric motor. The internal combustion unit will allegedly power the front wheels, whereas the electric motor will channel its output to the rear axle. It鈥檚 unknown when the A-Class PHEVs will debut, but the British mag suggests that it could be displayed as early as October, at the 2018 Paris Auto Show. The plug-in hybrid powertrain won鈥檛 be limited to the hatchback, as it could power other compact models, such as the upcoming B-Class MPV and GLB boxy-looking SUV, that are based on the same platform. On the other hand, a zero-emissions version of the fourth-gen A-Class is reportedly out of the question. That鈥檚 because Mercedes will focus on the development of the new electrified EQ sub-brand. This will include the EQ A battery-powered compact hatchback, the EQ C electric SUV and other, as yet unknown, models.

As of now, FCA said that only the 2016 Jeep Wrangler鈥檚 passenger-side front airbag used such an inflator and that it would notify potential buyers of any of these unsold vehicles. Without describing its methods, FCA also said it tested 鈥渘early 6300 older versions鈥?of this inflator and found no problems. The non-desiccated inflators are considered dangerous since they do not have a chemical to absorb moisture. UPDATE 6/27/2016, 10:30 a.m.: Automotive News reports that a ruptured airbag appears to have caused a woman鈥檚 death in an accident in Malaysia. The driver of a 2005 Honda City was killed on Saturday, and the driver鈥檚-side airbag was found to be ruptured. The official cause of death has yet to be declared as of this writing. The car involved in the accident had been recalled in May 2015, but it hadn鈥檛 been repaired. If verified, this would be the third death related to defective Takata airbags in Malaysia this year.

UPDATE 6/28/2016, 5:00 p.m.: Shigehisa Takada, the chief executive of automotive supplier Takata, announced in a shareholder meeting that he will resign once a 鈥渘ew management regime鈥?has been selected. UPDATE 6/30/2016, 2:30 p.m.: Seven Honda and Acura models from 2001-2003 pose the highest failure rate among all recalled vehicles, with as much as a 50 percent chance their airbag inflators will rupture, according to NHTSA. The agency identified the 2001-2002 Honda Civic and Accord, 2002 CR-V and Odyssey, 2002-2003 Acura 3.2TL, and 2003 Honda Pilot and Acura 3.2CL as the most dangerous. These cars were initially recalled for the defect between 2008 and 2011, and while 鈥渕ore than 70 percent鈥?now have new inflators, there are still 313,000 vehicles with the original inflators. Eight of the 10 U.S. Takata airbag inflators have involved this group of Honda and Acura models. UPDATE 7/8/2016, 10:00 a.m.: Roughly 1.4 million vehicles have been recalled in Japan for their Takata airbags.

Mitsubishi recalled 520,000 vehicles, Mazda 490,000, Subaru 290,000, and Mercedes-Benz 93,000. Of particular note for U.S. UPDATE 7/19/2016, 5:00 p.m.: An internal audit conducted by Takata and Honda found the airbag supplier manipulated airbag test data that stripped out poorer results, according to Bloomberg. Examples of 鈥渟elective editing,鈥?according to former IIHS president Brian O鈥橬eill, who conducted the audit, resulted in a report that was a 鈥減rettier shortened version鈥?of what actually occurred. Depositions of several Takata engineers from an ongoing lawsuit found that reports to Nissan, Toyota, and General Motors were similarly doctored. UPDATE 7/20/2016, 3:30 p.m.: The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has identified additional new cars that still use non-desiccated Takata inflators. They are: 2016 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, 2016-2017 Mercedes-Benz E-class coupe/convertible, 2016 Ferrari FF, 2016-2017 Ferrari California T, 2016-2017 Ferrari 488GTB/488 Spider, 2016-2017 Ferrari F12/F12tdf, and 2017 Ferrari GTC4Lusso. These vehicles remain legal for sale, but, per NHTSA, they must be recalled by the end of 2018. Audi, Lexus, Mitsubishi, Toyota, and Volkswagen had previously been found to still be building new cars with the suspect airbags.

UPDATE 7/21/2016, 2:00 p.m.: General Motors has stated that it may have to recall an additional 4.3 million vehicles in the U.S. 550 million, according to Automotive News. Also, Mazda has added 3743 B-series pickups from the 2007-2009 model years to its list of vehicles recalled due to potentially defective Takata airbag inflators; these trucks are being recalled for the passenger-side airbags. UPDATE 8/5/2016, 11:00 a.m.: NHTSA is expanding its investigation of airbag supplier ARC Automotive to 8 million potentially defective airbags after the driver of a 2009 Hyundai Elantra was killed in Canada last month. Automotive News reports that the car鈥檚 airbag inflator was manufactured in China, unlike inflators in U.S.-market Elantras from the same time period. General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, and Kia also used ARC airbags that are part of this probe. In July 2015, NHTSA began investigating ARC for airbags produced in Tennessee after airbag-related injuries were reported in crashes of a 2002 Chrysler Town & Country and a 2004 Kia Optima.