German carmakers Volkswagen and Daimler are recalling 1.5 million vehicles in the United States due to potentially faulty airbags made by Japan’s Takata, the focus of a long-running global safety crisis.

US auto safety regulators said last month that Takata had declared 5.1 million US vehicles defective, revealing far more air bags than previously thought were potentially unsafe.

Takata’s inflators can explode with too much force and spray metal shrapnel into passengers.

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Problems were first reported in 2009 and the airbags are linked to at least 10 deaths worldwide and more than 100 US injuries.

So far, 14 automakers have recalled a total of about 24 million US vehicles involving about 28 million Takata air bag inflators.

Volkswagen will recall 680,000 vehicles in the US built between 2006 and 2014.
Dailmer said late on Tuesday 840,000 US vehicles with Takata airbag inflators would be checked and was recalling about 705,000 Mercedes-Benz cars and about 136,000 vans.

Cars being recalled include the Mercedes-Benz SLK convertible, the C-Class and E-Class sedans, the M and GL-Class sports utility vehicles as well as the R-Class and SLS coupe made between 2005 and 2014.

It is also recalling vans made between 2007 and 2014, including vehicles bearing the Dodge, Freightliner and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter brands.

Daimler said it was unaware of airbag failures in its vehicles, and that the numbers of vehicles involved in the recall could fall once further technical studies finished.

Daimler said it would take a charge of 340 million euros ($A543.61 million) to cover the cost of the recall.

Other manufacturers have recalled cars with Takata airbags over the last few years.

Automakers, including Honda and Mazda, say they will no longer use the product, fanning concerns over Takata’s future.

In November US regulators fined Takata $US70 million ($A99.05 million) and it is still under investigation by the Justice Department.