Defective airbags from Takata have been linked to 18 deaths and hundreds of injuries, but more than 10 million vehicles still remain unrepaired at this point, according to a report issued Friday. It’s an unfortunate situation—one that Honda’s now trying to reconcile by tracking down affected owners through Facebook.
Specifically, Honda is going to use Facebook’s custom audiences tool. As the company put it, specific owners will be reached by matching encrypted email addresses associated with their VINs to Facebook user IDs.
“When a customer logs into Facebook,” Honda said, “they are presented with a custom message regarding the recall.”
Automakers are expecting to recall about 125 million vehicles across the world because of the Takata scandal, and the necessary repairs are expected to go on until 2023. Honda’s approach is clever, but the fact it’s leaning on Facebook illustrates the lengths at which automakers need to go to reach owners with the relevant defects.
The independent monitor of the Takata recall—the largest automotive-related recall in history—said as much in a lengthy report issued Friday on the current status of recall efforts.
“The words ‘grenade’ and ‘ticking time bomb’ accurately convey the lethal potential of these defective inflators,” the regulator wrote.
Get those airbags fixed.