BMW of North America is preparing a financial aid package to help U.S. dealers weather a stop-sale order on about 840,000 cars and light trucks affected by the recall of Takata airbags. In a bulletin sent to dealers – and quoted by Automotive News – BMW said it does not have enough replacement airbags and probably won’t have an adequate supply for dealer repairs on used and new vehicles subject to the recall until summer.
The Takata airbag recall is arguably the largest recall ever put out by automakers worldwide. 29 millions potentially faulty airbag inflators were built by Takata with 25 million of them installed on U.S. vehicles. BMW is one of the many automakers affected by the airbags defect.
The defected airbags could deploy with excessive force, rupture the inflator, spray shrapnel and result in injury or death. BMW told dealers it’s not aware of any ruptures that might have occurred in their cars.
“BMW NA is developing a complete dealer toolbox including loyalty incentives, loaner vehicle incentives, lease extensions, etc. as well as a decision tree on how to prioritize these tools,” BMW told dealers in the notice.
Some details of BMW’s financial assistance for U.S. dealers were expected to be released Friday, March 18.
