Carma's "find-and-alert" Takata airbag recall awareness programs seeing a 25% remedy rate by directly notifying vehicle owners.
COSTA MESA, Calif., Dec. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Industrywide, approximately 500,000 vehicles with potentially critical safety recalls have been checked by the specialized safety outreach programs created by Carma Project, according to first-year data reported by the company today.
Launched through a unique collaboration with Toyota Motor North America (TMNA), Carma Project addresses high-priority safety recalls, including the deadly Takata airbag recall, which is labeled "the largest and most complex safety recall in U.S. history," by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Through 12 months of operation, Carma Project's specialized outreach programs have prompted 25 percent of notified Toyota/Lexus/Scion owners to take action and get their recalled Takata airbags replaced. In addition, over 35,000 vehicle owners industrywide were alerted about having at least one recall on their vehicle. These vehicles had a combined total of more than 55,000 active recalls.
"This data attests to the impact that our programs are having on recalls as a whole, and on Takata-affected vehicles specifically," said Carma Project President Fabio Gratton. "It underscores the power of being able to reach vehicle owners directly — whether by word-of-mouth, or through our network of outreach solutions built on our proprietary license plate recognition platform."
"We're pleased to continue developing our ongoing partnership with Carma Project," said Toyota Motor North America's Vice President of Product Quality and Service Support Tom Trisdale. "Carma's innovative approach to recall awareness has played an important role in our Takata airbag recall outreach efforts, and we welcome others in the industry to join us in using these specialized programs."
The Takata recall continues to impact vehicles built by 19 different automakers — with impacted manufacturers including Ford, General Motors, Fiat-Chrysler (FCA), Nissan, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and more. With a projected 70 million airbags expected to be recalled by the end of 2019, and more than a dozen deaths and hundreds of alleged injuries industry-wide, millions of drivers and passengers continue to be at risk.
Despite extensive efforts by manufacturers, such as recall letters, public service announcements, and dealer interventions, consumer response to fixing these potentially life-threatening airbags continues to be lower than hoped, with 1 out of every 3 affected airbags still unrepaired.
"As a result of the various programs that Toyota piloted with us throughout the year, we now have the data to definitively show how the Carma Project platform can effectively accelerate consumer response to safety recalls," Gratton says. "Not only is it effective, but it can also scale rapidly while focusing on some of the most impacted geographic regions. When there are millions of endangered lives at stake, speed and scale are of the utmost importance to manufacturers — that's why we've now started reaching out to the rest of the industry to invite them to join."
After a successful first year focused primarily on helping Toyota enhance their Takata airbag recall outreach efforts, Carma Project is actively expanding to assist other automotive manufacturers.
About Carma Project
With a community of over 25,000 safety Ambassadors, camera-equipped vehicles, retail partnerships, and influencers, Carma's industry-first outreach solutions provide automotive manufacturers, independent repair facilities, and automotive dealers access to the first-ever direct-to-vehicle Safety Network designed to accelerate consumer response to critical automotive recalls.
