Another 132 vehicles with faulty Takata airbags will be immobilised, the road department said on Saturday.

The immobilisation follows a recall over cars equipped with defective Takata airbags issued by CIC Automasters, the distributer of Opel/Vauxhall in Cyprus.

The transport ministry said that the new announcement comes in addition to the notices issued on October 17 and November 20, and confirmed that it had proceeded to suspend the MOTs of the relevant vehicles.

In view of the above, the road transport department is calling on vehicle owners to contact the relevant manufacturer’s distributor for further instructions.

As of the beginning of November, 63,144 of the 81,060 defective airbags identified in Cyprus as part of the global recall of potentially faulty airbags manufactured by the Japanese company Takata had been replaced.

According to the transport ministry, most of the recalled vehicles already have replacement airbags, while 7,134 other vehicles have been deregistered or marked as immobilised.

A further 10,782 vehicles have had their MOT certificates revoked for failing to comply with the recall.

Additionally, 4,327 Takata replacement appointments have been scheduled until the end of January, contingent on part availability and owner response to scheduling appointments.

The first cars subject to the Takata recall were immobilised at the beginning of October.

In February, Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades announced an eight-month grace period for vehicle owners, which has now expired.