Honda to Use Facebook to Find Owners With Defective Takata Airbags

Honda said on Monday it will use Facebook Inc's custom audiences tool to find car owners with defective Takata airbags.

The tool, which allows advertisers to reach a specified list of users, will match encrypted email addresses associated with recalled vehicle identification numbers to Facebook users.

Japan's Takata's air bag inflators have been linked to at least 18 deaths and 180 injuries around the world because they can rupture and shoot metal fragments into vehicles.

Honda, whose vehicles account for 17 of the 18 deaths worldwide, has been by far the most aggressive in reaching out to affected customers.

A report issued on Friday by an independent monitor of the Takata recalls said more than 10 million US vehicles and 18.5 million faulty Takata air bag inflators remain unrepaired in the largest ever auto recall.

Takata inflators can explode with excessive force, unleashing metal shrapnel inside cars and trucks. At least 18 deaths and 180 injuries worldwide have been tied to the defect that led Takata to file for bankruptcy protection in June and prompted at least 19 automakers to issue recalls. Automakers have recalled or expect to recall by 2019 about 125 million vehicles worldwide to replace air bag inflators, including more than 60 million in the United States.