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!Message from Bruce Smith: Important Update on Takata Airbag Inflater Recall/SIC

Senior Vice President

Dear Honda Dealer,
I want to share with you an important update regarding the Takata airbag inflator recall and national
safety improvement campaign (SIC) that affects all Honda dealers.
As you're aware, on May 19th , the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a
formal defect determination by Takata related to front airbag inflators installed in vehicles from more
than 10 automakers.
As a result of the recalls and safety improvement campaigns Honda previously initiated, no additional
vehicles will require a driver's front airbag inflator repair as a result of the defect determination.
We did, however, originally announce the addition of approximately 350,000 Civic vehicles from the
2001-2005 model years and Accord vehicles from the 2003-2007 model years to an existing
passenger airbag inflator recall. This recall was initially limited to the 13 states and U.S. territories
that experience consistent levels of high absolute humidity, consistent with the nature of Takata's
defect determination.
NHTSA has now directed that the recall be national in scope and not limited (for owner notification
purposes) to areas of high absolute humidity. As a result, Honda decided to conduct a national recall
that will include approximately 1.39 million inflators not previously subject to recall or safety
improvement campaign (this includes the estimated 350,000 inf/afars mentioned in the preliminary
announcement). According to currently available information, this results in a total of approximately
2.3 million passenger front airbag inflators now requiring replacement in this new action.
Importantly, approximately 915,000 of the affected Civic and Accord vehicles are already included in
existing passenger front airbag inflator recalls and Honda's voluntary safety improvement campaigns
(13V-132, 14V-349, 14-353 and 14V-700) and will transition into the new recall.
The VINs associated with these specific Civic and Accord models (from both the May 28
announcement and the expansion announced on June 15) have been identified and uploaded to the
VIN look-up on iN, as well as to the Honda recalls website: www.recalls.honda.com . The mailed
notification of registered owners will occur within 60 days, as required.
As we continue our extensive efforts to reach owners of vehicles affected by previous recalls, in the
last two weeks, American Honda has confirmed two additional fatalities linked to the rupture of
Takata front airbag inflators. Our thoughts and sympathies are with the families of both drivers
during this difficult time.
Last week, Honda confirmed that the Takata driver's airbag inflator ruptured in the crash of a 2005
Honda Civic on April 5, 2015 in Lafayette, Louisiana. The airbag inflator rupture that occurred during
this crash resulted in the death of the driver, Kylan Langlinais. On Friday, Honda confirmed that the
Takata driver's airbag inflator ruptured in the crash of a 2001 Honda Civic on September 7, 2014 in
Los Angeles, California. The airbag inflator rupture that occurred during this crash resulted in the
American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

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death of the driver, Ms. Jewel Brangman. These tragedies underscore the severity of the situation at
hand, and the degree to which we must all work together to remedy the situation as soon as possible.

Toward the effort to communicate information clearly and transparently with our customers, Honda
has launched a website to provide additional information on the Takata airbag inflator recalls. The
Airbag lnflator Recall Center website (hondaairbaginfo.com ) is intended to provide statements, press
releases, and other relevant information for media and consumers, including a VIN look-up tool.
However, this site should not be the primary destination for customers who just want to search their
VIN and determine if their vehicle is affected by a recall. For those searches, please continue to
direct customers to www.recalls.honda.com .
On the new airbag inflator recalls site, consumers can view a new video that generally explains how
airbag inflators are designed to work and what can happen in the rare event one of the recalled
Takata airbag inflators ruptures during a commanded deployment. American Honda produced this
video to clarify some of the publicly available Takata Airbag Recall information that may be confusing
to consumers and the media.
As media coverage is yet another opportunity to reach affected owners, it is important that
communications to the media are also clear and transparent. Should you receive inquiries from
media (not for customer inquiries), please refer reporters to Chris Martin at Honda Public Relations at
Chris Martin@ahm. honda. com or contact Chris yourself at 310-783-3170 with the specific questions
you're receiving, and we can provide advice as to how to respond.
I want to thank you again for your partnership and dedication to repair affected inflators and take care
of our customers.
Sincerely,
Bruce Smith
Senior Vice President
© 2000-2015, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved.

American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

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