Following tremendous pressure from the NHTSA, Takata has expanded the recall on its faulty airbags. In fact, it just doubled the number of vehicles that are subject to recall to 34 million – that’s one in seven vehicles on the road today – and the largest recall in automotive history. Since then, consumers have been flooding the NHTSA website, searching to see whether their vehicles are affected. In fact, according to an article in Automotive News, daily website traffic increased by 62 times — to an incredible 598,000 searches, up from 9,662 per day. Consumers want answers and, once they get them, they’ll be looking to dealers to help them.
Be prepared for a large surge in recall-related questions and ensure that you have answers for your customers. Due to the incredible volume and the reported shortage of parts, there is not much dealers can do to expedite parts orders to handle these issues. But, most consumers will want their vehicles fixed as soon as possible, perhaps fearing for the safety of themselves and their loved ones.
That being said, apparently it is going to take years to handle all the vehicles involved in this recall. I am sure there will be many customers unwilling to drive a vehicle that has a faulty airbag for months, let alone years. They will therefore search for an alternative – namely, a new vehicle.
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