Honda said it recalled about 2,033,000 vehicles which were produced between August 2000 and December 2005, including more than one million in North America and 668,000 in Japan.
Two other automakers, Mazda and Nissan, also recalled hundreds of thousands of vehicles over the same problem, which was also responsible for earlier recalls by Toyota.
Japan's Takata Corp., which made the airbag, noted its U.S. subsidiary had manufactured the airbag, apologizing for the problem and vowing to make its utmost efforts to prevent a recurrence.
"We apologize deeply for causing tremendous trouble and worries to client companies, users of our products and other people concerned," the company said in a statement.
Nissan recalled a combined 755,000 vehicles, including 128,000 in Japan and 627,000 overseas.
A Mazda spokeswoman said: "The recall will cover 11,832 vehicles at home and 147,975 units overseas, mainly in Europe and China."
Subject to Honda's recall are a total of 13 types of vehicles in Japan including popular Fit and Accord models.
Front passenger airbag inflators could have been assembled with an improperly manufactured propellant component, Honda, Japan's third largest automaker, said.
That could cause the container of the inflator to rupture in the event of a crash, posing a fire risk or injuring passengers, it added.
By Ruchi Singh
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
