More than 350 Ferrari sports-cars recalled in Australia due to faulty Takata airbags

EVEN luxury cars have bad days. A global airbag recall affecting 100 million cars — including 1.3 million here — now includes Ferrari.

EVEN the most expensive cars on the road aren’t exempt from safety recalls.

Italian sports-car maker Ferrari is recalling more than 350 vehicles in Australia due to a potentially faulty airbag which it describes as “a possible nonconformity within an outsourced component”.

Translated: ‘a supplier made a mistake and we unwittingly fitted a faulty part to our car’.

“In the event of a collision necessitating deployment of the airbag, this nonconformity may result in the failure of the inflation device and incorrect deployment of the passenger side airbag, increasing the risk of injury,” the statement on the recalls website says.

The recall affects popular models including the 458 Italia, 458 Spider, California, and FF made from 2009 to 2011.

Ferrari says of the 423 cars sold locally from 2009 to 2011, 359 are affected.

A piece of metal shrapnel from a defective Takata airbag displayed at a press conference in Washington, DC in Junme 2015. Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP

The safety bulletin means Ferrari has now been added to the world’s biggest automotive recall for faulty Takata airbags, which can either fail to deploy in a crash or which can spray shrapnel if they explode with too much force.

More than 100 million cars have now been recalled globally, including more than 1.3 million in Australia.

Ferrari says there have been no reports of airbag faults in Australia and the recall work will take between two and four days to complete, depending on spare parts availability and vehicle model.

Deflated: the car manufacturers caught up in the Takata airbag recall keeps on growing. Picture: Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP

“Ferrari is unaware of field incidents involving the subject passenger inflators on any vehicles to-date. In any case, we encourage customers to bring their vehicles in for service as soon as they are notified that parts are available,” said Ferrari Australia.

Ferrari isn’t the only super luxury brand to experience a safety recall.

In 2013, Rolls-Royce recalled cars in Australia due to a “fuel odour” on its $645,000 limousines. A year earlier, Rolls-Royce cars were recalled locally because they might catch fire due to a fuel leak.

This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling