AKIPRESS.COM - The Japanese airbag manufacturer Takata has refused a request by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to expand a recall of cars containing its faulty airbags, according to media reports.

The current recall applies only to cars in high-humidity states.

In a letter to the NHTSA, Takata insisted that was sufficient.

The NHTSA can now fine Takata up to $7,000 (£4,460) per day for each unrecalled car on the road.

The airbags - which can explode with shrapnel - have so far been linked to five deaths, and nearly 14 million cars worldwide have been recalled.

Expanding the recall to include all of the US - as opposed to Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and other areas associated with high humidity - would add an additional eight million cars to the total.