Regulators vow more action on Takata air bags

WASHINGTON — The government has taken only "one phase of action" so far in its recall of 7.78 million Takata air bags in cars, a senior administration official says.

The official, who said he was offering background Friday for reporters on the condition he not be identified, broadly hinted there is much more to come on the recalls that ballooned earlier this week. The official called it an "evolving situation" and asked reporters not to "prejudge the outcome."

Earlier in the week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said owners of the affected vehicles need to urgently act on the recall. The warning was prompted by the recalls by 10 automakers in Southern states with high humidity. If the cars were to get in an accident, the inflation canisters can throw shards of plastic and metal when they deploy.

But the warning came with confusion. On Monday, NHTSA said the warning applied to owners of cars in Hawaii, Florida and several U.S. territories that are at greatest risk. When the notice was expanded Wednesday, the agency added Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana. The government website that allowed owners to look up their cars for recall information by its vehicle identification number, or VIN, didn't work.

"Clearly the rollout of this recall did not happen perfectly," the official said, citing an initially inaccurate number of vehicles involved and the VIN look-up-feature snafu. The agency is working to make sure the mistake doesn't happen again.

The review, however, goes further. The official says a review has been ordered to see whether the NHTSA is being aggressive enough in how it manages risk.

Jansen reported from Washington and Woodyard from Los Angeles