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Honda CR-V airbag recall doesn't affect Australia

The US market Honda CR-V is built in that country, for that country. That means this recall doesn't affect Australian-spec cars.

A recent recall of Honda CR-V models in the US has caused a stir among Australian customers, but local consumers have nothing to fear.

The recall for US market Honda CR-V models relates to a wiring fault that may lead to the airbags deploying without reason. According to the US safety watchdog, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, metal shards could cause a short circuit for the steering wheel airbag, causing it to deploy.

That’s the worst case scenario for the 118,598 examples affected built from 3 October 2018 to 1 April 2019 - warning signs for owners of CR-Vs include steering wheel buttons failing to operate, the horn sounding without reason, or an airbag light on the dashboard.

Honda Australia has apparently been inundated by owners of the CR-V in Australia, but those customers have no reason for concern - the recall affects only American market models, as they’re built in a different plant and feature different design elements. These models are built in the US, for the US.

Australian CR-V models - like all versions for South-East Asia - are built in Thailand, and therefore this recall doesn’t affect local vehicles.

Honda has seen a spate of global airbag recalls as part of the Takata recall, but this latest instance is unrelated to Takata.

Do you pay attention to global recalls? Does it affect your purchase decisions? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.