Honda Launches Recall Ad Campaign Amidst Takata’s Indifference

Near the end of 2014 Takata had a choice. The Japan-based airbag manufacturer could give into the pressure and issue a national recall for their potentially faulty airbags, or they could stand firm that a further recall isn’t necessary. Despite urges from automakers, United States Congress, Takata didn’t budge.

They were given a midnight deadline threat from the NHTSA at the start of December. The media built it up to be a big deal, but the threat was largely ignored. Takata even released a statement that seemed to acknowledge that they aren’t too worried about the NHTSA or changing their mind on recalls.

The Chief Executive of Takata, Shigehisa Takada, released a statement, which read, “We recognize that N.H.T.S.A. has urged Takata and our customers to support expansions of the current regional campaigns in the United States.” The company has decided that their airbag inflator recalls will be relegated to high humidity regions of the U.S. and its territories since according to Takata, those regions, “remain the priority for the replacement of suspect inflators.” That turned out to be an expensive stance.

Since this news broke in December, the NHTSA has since decided to fine Takata $14,000 per day, starting back on the 20th of February for not cooperating with their investigation. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx spoke about this issue saying, “Safety is a shared responsibility and Takata’s failure to fully cooperate with our investigation is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.” That tolerance also extends to automakers.

Honda was by far the hardest hit by the airbag recalls. They recalled 5.9 times more vehicles than they sold in 2014. About 6.2 million Honda vehicles in the U.S. are subject to the Takata recall. This is also a company particularly interested in safety right now, considering their recent $70 million dollar fine from NHTSA for underreporting accidents. With that desire in mind to show public support for safety, they are launching a new initiative aimed at convincing consumers to get their recalled vehicles repaired.

Honda is launching an ad campaign involving newspapers, radio and social media. The campaign will consist of notices for Honda vehicle owners to get their vehicles in for needed recall services. The ad campaign will be focused in areas of higher humidity where Takata airbag inflators are more likely to cause airbags to explode, sending shrapnel into the face of the vehicle driver. 120 newspapers will feature the notices. With radio ads in both English and Spanish set to run through March 16 in 110 media markets nationwide.

John Mendel, executive vice president of the automobile division of American Honda said in a statement, “These ads are a strong call to action from our company designed to break through the clutter, grab the attention of customers driving affected vehicles, and urge that they get required repairs as soon as possible.”

These recalls are always expensive news for companies like Takata as well as automakers, however, they can potentially be more welcome news for dealers. In an article in the L.A. Times, Jeremy Anwyl, the Vice Chairman of Edmunds.com talked about recall benefits for dealerships. Anwyl said, “Recalls are definitely good for business. Smart dealers actively market recalls by calling up customers. They make money doing the work that is required, and then they get a car into the shop that might need something else, if only an oil change.”

Certainly, if a consumer brings their vehicle to your store for repairs, they could very easily need more than simple oil changes. With 2014 being “the year of the recall,” what did you see at your store in the service department? Was there a noticeable uptick in business as the result of recall visits? How well did you track that type of business? If your store didn’t make the most of recall visits in 2014, what are you going to change for 2015?