GM dealers stop Cruze sales over faulty Takata airbags

General Motors has told dealers to stop selling about 33,000 new and used Chevrolet Cruze sedans from model years 2013 and 2014 due to a potential problem with airbags from Japan's Takata.
Potentially faulty airbags manufactured by Takata -- that could rupture and propel debris inside a car -- have triggered the recall of millions of vehicles around the world, many of them Toyotas.
GM spokesman Jim Cain said the automaker had notified US and Canadian automakers to halt Cruze deliveries "until further notice," though sales of the unaffected vehicles were set to resume by the end of the week.
"Certain vehicles may be equipped with a suspect driver's air bag inflator module that may have been assembled with an incorrect part," he added.
General Motors was "working diligently with the supplier of the defective part to identify specific vehicles affected and expect to resume deliveries by the end of this week once those vehicles are identified," Cain said.
The decision was more bad news for Takata, and for Chevrolet.
Japanese automakers on Monday recalled nearly three million vehicles worldwide over an airbag defect that could pose a fire risk. Honda, Mazda and Nissan were affected.
Japan's Takata Corp., which made the airbag, noted its US subsidiary had manufactured the airbag, apologizing for the problem and vowing to make its utmost efforts to prevent a recurrence.
Subject to Honda's recall are a total of 13 vehicle models in Japan, including popular Fit and Accord cars.
Front passenger airbag inflators could have been assembled with an improperly manufactured propellant component, 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.
The same problem has also caused top automaker Toyota to recall millions of vehicles globally.