The ACCC is taking Mercedes-Benz to court over allegedly failing to comply with the Takata airbag recall. 

For several years,  a compulsory recall has been in place for defective, and potentially deadly, Takata airbags. The recall notice requires suppliers communicate with consumers to emphasise the danger of the Takata airbags, and to draw attention to the urgency of having airbags replaced.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleges that, between July 2018 and March 2020, in communications with consumers, Mercedes-Benz contravened the Takata compulsory recall notice by minimising the risks associated with defective airbags and failing to use attention-capturing, high-impact language to avoid consumers ignoring recall notices.  

It is alleged that on at least 73 occasions, Mercedes-Benz call centre staff made representations to consumers by phone or email to the effect that they were undertaking the recall as a precaution; that it was still okay (or safe) to drive vehicles that were over six years old; or there had been no incidents, accidents, injuries or deaths caused by Beta airbags, either in Mercedes-Benz vehicles, or at all.

The regulator says the language used was inconsistent with the requirements of the compulsory recall notice. 

Further, it is not correct that there have been no incidents. In fact, there have been incidents in Australia and overseas involving Beta airbags including, in Australia, one incident resulting in a fatality and another resulting in very serious injuries to the driver. 

The ACCC is also aware of reported misdeployments overseas of Takata airbags fitted in Mercedes vehicles.

“The Takata airbag compulsory recall was commenced in Australia because of the risk of misdeployment of defective Takata airbags in millions of vehicles, which could result in serious injury or death to drivers and passengers, even in relatively minor accidents,” ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said. 

“The Takata recall was the first motor vehicle compulsory recall required in Australia under the Australian Consumer Law, and was the biggest vehicle recall in Australian history, affecting over 4 million Takata airbags in around 3 million vehicles.

“It was a very important part of the compulsory recall that consumers were made aware in all communications from vehicle manufacturers of the risks of serious injury or death from defective Takata airbags, and the importance of having these airbags replaced as soon as possible.

“We allege that Mercedes-Benz exposed consumers to the risks of serious injury or death because it used language which minimised these risks, and gave the impression that the recall was precautionary and that there was no urgency in having the airbags replaced,” Ms Rickard said.

The ACCC is seeking declarations, pecuniary penalties, an order requiring a product recall compliance program, and costs.