MINI recalls 92,000 cars

MINI of North America is recalling around 92,000 MINIs following detection of an airbag fault.

On May 1 the firm will begin notifying owners to bring their cars in to get the passenger seat occupant detection sensor replaced. The company said that it has received one report of an “alleged” minor injury related to this defect.

The cars involved in the recall are model year 2005-2006 MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S manufactured between January 2005 and November 2006 and model year 2005-2008 MINI Cooper Convertibles and Cooper S Convertibles made between January 2005 and July 2008. There are approximately 59,270 of the 2005-2006 models affected by the recall and 32,530 of the 2005-2008 models.

MINI estimates that about 10% of the total number of cars in the recall are affected by the faulty sensor.

The company said the occupant detection mat may not be functioning correctly due to “several manufacturing, installation and field exposure issues,” and noted that “in the event of a severe crash, the front passenger air bag may not activate when the seat is occupied, increasing the risk of injury.”
MINI has already begun notifying dealers of the recall.

The big question is - considering all the MINIs are made in Oxford, will there also be a UK recall?

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