Luxury car manufacturer Ferrari has issued a recall order for eight new models of its vehicles with price tags of $200,000 to over $1.4 million each due to the Takata airbags that are installed in them.
However, the recall order for the Ferrari vehicles is not due to the controversial defect of Takata airbags that are potentially fatal, which has resulted in a nationwide recall order of 34 million vehicles. The defective airbags can explode upon inflation, sending metal shrapnel into the cabin. This is a good thing for the car owners, as previous reports revealed that it could take months before the replacement airbag systems for cars suffering from such a defect can be provided.
The recall order issued by Ferrari is due to the improper installation of the Takata airbags, as they were installed in the vehicles at a wrong angle.
The wrongly installed airbags were discovered by Ferrari while tests were being done on the steering column of the 458 Italia, according to documents that were uploaded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The Italian luxury car maker, which is a unit of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, discovered that the leather skin that covers the module of the airbag systems were improperly glued, along with the cushions of the airbags being installed in a wrong angle.
The improper installation will cause the airbags to be deployed with a rotated orientation, which could result in injury for the passenger's vehicles.
"The issue is a possible production defect in a component inside the air bags," said Krista Florin, a spokeswoman for Ferrari. The company has now issued the recall order for the affected vehicles so that the airbag systems can be replaced, she added. The replacements will be done at no cost to the customer.
No injuries or deaths have resulted from the issue covered by the recall order, Ferrari stated in the documents that it filed with the NHTSA.
Worldwide, the recall order affects 2,600 Ferrari vehicles, according to Florin, with the vehicles that have the defective Takata airbags being the 458 Italia, the 458 Speciale, the 458 Speciale A, the 458 Spider, the FF, the California T, the F12 Berlinetta and even the $1.4 million LaFerrari.
