Not Dissuaded By The Threat From Its Local Foe

Lamborghini鈥檚 upcoming Urus will be the fastest production SUV to ever lap the Nurburgring, the Italian firm says. The record for the fastest SUV at the famous German racetrack is held by the previous-generation Porsche Cayenne Turbo S with a 7:59.74. However, Alfa Romeo claims the Stelvio Quadrifoglio will surpass the Cayenne and claim the crown. Not dissuaded by the threat from its local foe, Lamborghini research and development chief Maurizio Reggiani believes the Urus will be faster. 鈥淥ur SUV will achieve more than 300 kph (187 mph) because it鈥檚 a Lamborghini. It鈥檚 our DNA. (We will) achieve the best lap time for an SUV on Nordschleife鈥攖his is a faster SUV,鈥?he told Motor Authority. Reggiani鈥檚 statement about the vehicle鈥檚 Nurburgring prospects counter those of Lamborghini Asia Pacific chief Andrea Baldi who suggested the Urus wouldn鈥檛 chase records at the circuit. Yesterday, it was announced that the Urus will premiere on December 4 and according to reports, be powered by the VW Group鈥檚 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 with approximately 650 hp.

UPDATE 11/2/2015, 4:00 p.m.: Honda is recalling a group of 515 2016 CR-Vs for driver鈥檚-side front airbag inflators that could separate in the event of a crash. 200 million total if further violations are discovered. UPDATE 11/4/2015, 9:45 a.m.: Honda has announced that it will no longer use airbag components from Takata. In a statement, Honda said: 鈥淲e have become aware of evidence that suggests that Takata misrepresented and manipulated test data for certain airbag inflators.鈥?According to Automotive News, Honda has been Takata鈥檚 biggest customer for many years. UPDATE 11/6/2015, 9:55 a.m.: Following Honda鈥檚 lead, both Toyota and Mazda have said they will stop purchasing airbag inflators from Takata, at least those that incorporate ammonium nitrate. According to Automotive News, Mitsubishi and Subaru also are considering dropping the airbag supplier. Nearly 40 percent of Takata鈥檚 sales in 2014 came from airbag parts. UPDATE 11/9/2015, 10:35 a.m.: Nissan has now joined Toyota, Mazda, and Honda in announcing that it will no longer use Takata-supplied airbag inflators. UPDATE 11/23/2015, 1:45 p.m.: Ford is the latest carmaker to declare that it will no longer use Takata airbag inflators with ammonium-nitrate propellant in its new cars.

Ford is the first non-Japanese company to take this step. UPDATE 12/4/2015, 11:00 a.m.: Japan鈥檚 transport ministry has banned Takata airbag inflators that use ammonium nitrate as the propellant (and without a moisture-absorbing desiccant) from being installed in future cars. According to Automotive News, such airbags 鈥渨ill be phased out from driver鈥檚-side airbags by 2017 and passenger-side devices by 2018.鈥?Vehicle models that are subject to Takata-related recalls have a six-month-shorter time frame for the phase-out. UPDATE 12/23/2015, 12:15 p.m.: NHTSA announced today that another person has died as a result of a faulty Takata airbag inflator. The fatal July 2015 crash occurred in a 2001 Honda Accord. Although the crash happened in Pennsylvania, the car had spent several years in the humid Gulf region. Also, the agency has been informed of five new ruptures to passenger-side airbags, which is 鈥渓ikely鈥?to result in expanded recalls of the 2002-2004 Honda CR-V, the 2005-2008 Mazda 6, and the 2005-2008 Subaru Legacy. UPDATE 1/4/2016, 3:00 p.m.: The New York Times has detailed the contents of some internal Takata emails from more than nine years ago.

鈥榩ressure vessel failures,鈥?or airbag ruptures, . 鈥?in an email to a colleague about how to graphically deemphasize the 鈥渂imodal distribution鈥?of some tests conducted at high temperatures. Meanwhile, Automotive News reports that some Japanese carmakers 鈥渕ay jointly invest in Takata鈥?in order to soften the financial hit that the airbag supplier is facing as a result of these massive recalls. UPDATE 1/8/2016, 4:15 p.m.: Mazda will recall 374,000 cars in the United States due to their passenger-side airbags. According to Automotive News, these airbags were found to be 鈥減rone to ruptures鈥?in recent tests by Takata. The 2003-2008 Mazda 6, the 2006-2007 Mazdaspeed 6, and the 2004 RX-8 are affected; these models had already been included on our list below, and we鈥檝e increased the total accordingly. UPDATE 1/22/2016, 3:30 p.m.: A Georgia man died last month in a Takata airbag-related crash while driving a 2006 Ford Ranger. His death marks the first of nine in the United States and ten worldwide that have not occurred in a Honda vehicle.

In the wake of this news, U.S. 5 million vehicles to the Takata recall list detailed below. Automotive News notes that 1 million of those added vehicles have inflators 鈥渟imilar to those installed on the Ford Ranger,鈥?while the other 4 million are being recalled following results of new tests on Takata airbags. Audi and Mercedes-Benz products will be included on the list below for the first time. UPDATE 1/26/2016, 9:30 a.m.: Ford has expanded its recall of 2004-2006 Ranger pickups, following news last week of a driver who died as a result of injuries he received from airbag shrapnel. The recall is for driver鈥檚-side airbags in 361,692 Rangers in the United States and another 29,334 in Canada. These trucks had already been recalled for their passenger-side airbags. All 2004-2006 Rangers built in North America are part of this recall. UPDATE 1/27/2016, 12:45 p.m.: The driver of a 2007 Honda Civic was killed in India last year in a crash that involved at least one Takata-sourced airbag that sent shrapnel flying into the cabin.