Mazda North America Operations is recalling 269,618 model year 2003-2008 Mazda6, 2006-2007 Mazdaspeed6 and 2004 MPV vehicles nationwide.
Also being recalled are model year 2005-2006 MPV vehicles in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The recalled vehicles are equipped with certain airbag inflators assembled as part of the passenger front airbag modules, and used as original equipment or replacement equipment.
In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger front airbag, the inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
What to do
Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger airbag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge.
The recall is expected to begin in July 2018.
Owners may contact Mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500, Option 4. Mazda's number for this recall is 2618F.