CAPE TOWN – Mazda Motor Corporation is recalling 19 000 cars in South Africa due to airbag safety concerns as the Japanese carmaker extends a global recall to cover a wider manufacturing period, its local unit said on Monday.

The recall was prompted by investigations in Japan and North America for three different types of Takata Corporation manufactured airbags over safety concerns that inflators were defective.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in July that new testing was prompting Takata Corporation to declare 2.7 million airbag inflators defective in Ford Motor Company, Nissan Motor Company and Mazda vehicles.

Takata airbag inflators have been linked to 17 deaths and more than 180 injuries worldwide, and the recalls will eventually cover about 125 million inflators.