DETROIT (AP) - The head of the nation's biggest car dealership chain says it won't sell used cars being recalled for exploding air bags due to conflicting advice from automakers and lack of direction from the government.
The recalls are giving the auto industry a black eye because they are "confusing and incoherent," AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson said Tuesday in an interview.
Ten automakers have recalled more than 12 million cars with air bags made by parts supplier Takata Corp. The air bags can inflate with too much force, blowing apart metal canisters and sending shards flying at drivers and passengers. Safety advocates say four people have died due to the problem.
Some automakers have limited recalls to a few Southern states with high humidity, while others have expanded them. Still others have done national recalls for similar problems. Dozens of models made by BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota dating to the 2001 model year are covered by the recalls.
"You have 10 different manufacturers taking 10 different positions," Jackson said. "How are we and the consumers supposed to figure out what is the right line?"
AutoNation, a 277-franchise chain that's in 15 states, won't sell any of the cars if they are being recalled under supervision of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The cars can be sold once the recall repairs are done. About 40 cars in Southern states are affected. But a spokesman said the Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based retailer will sell models equipped with Takata air bags outside of the Southern states as long as they aren't being recalled by NHTSA.
The industry needs to sit down and talk about standardizing the recalls, Jackson says. "I think there needs to be a process when a component fails across multiple manufacturers, that there's a coherent, coordinated recall effort. We do not have that here," he says.
NHTSA, the government's auto safety agency, should be coordinating and standardizing the effort, he said. But it doesn't have a top executive. David Friedman has been serving as acting or deputy administrator since December of last year. The Obama administration has said to expect a new administrator within two weeks.