Daimler recalls 840,000 vehicles in U.S. for airbag concerns

By David Shepardson and Edward Taylor

WASHINGTON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German automaker Daimler said on Tuesday it would recall 840,000 U.S. vehicles with Takata airbag inflators that could be defective, a step that would result in a charge of 340 million euros ($383.96 million).

Daimler said it had decided to recall approximately 705,000 Mercedes-Benz cars and about 136,000 Daimler vans. It did not immediately respond to a question about which models are being recalled.

Last month, Takata Corp, said it was declaring 5.1 million additional inflators defective after new testing and following the death of a driver in December in a 2006 Ford Ranger after an airbag rupture.

Takata's inflators can explode with too much force and spray metal shrapnel into vehicle passenger compartments. They are linked to at least 10 deaths worldwide and more than 100 U.S. injuries. To date, 14 automakers have recalled about 24 million U.S. vehicles involving about 28 million Takata air bag inflators.

Takata said other automakers involved in the most recent expansion include Honda Motor Co, Volkswagen AG and its Audi unit, and Mazda Motor Co. American Honda Motor Co, BMW AG and Saab.

Honda has recalled 2.23 million U.S. vehicles in the most recent Takata expansion. Ford has recalled 361,000 Ranger trucks and Mazda called back nearly 20,000 2004-2006 B-Series trucks.

Daimler said it will account for the cost in its 2015 financial year results. It said full-year net profit will decrease to 8.7 billion euros, and group earnings before interest and tax will be 13.2 billion euros.

In December, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration named a former Justice Department official as a monitor to help regulators oversee one of the biggest and most complex safety recalls in U.S. automotive history.

In November, U.S. regulators fined Takata $70 million. The company faces an ongoing U.S. Justice Department investigation.

(Additional reporting by Edward Taylor in Frankfurt; Editing by David Gregorio)