Japanese carmaker Honda is recalling 4.5 million more cars globally amid continuing fears of a potentially deadly defect in Takata airbags.

At least eight deaths - all in Honda cars - have been linked to the airbag inflator, which can deploy with too much force spraying metal shrapnel.

The total number of recalled cars with Takata airbags has now risen to about 40.5 million worldwide since 2008.

Honda has now recalled more than 24 million cars worldwide

Other brands that have issued recalls include Nissan, General Motors and BMW.

But Honda, the number three carmaker in Japan, has been hardest hit with 24.5 million cars recalled - more than half of the global total.

A Honda spokesman in Tokyo told AFP news agency on Thursday that the carmaker had found some airbag inflators had "uneven gas density, which we worry could do some harm".

"It is a preventive measure and unlike other normal recalls we are not waiting for the full results of the research," he said.

Honda is recalling about 1.63 million cars in Japan alone. The carmaker told the Reuters news agency that North America was not included in the latest recall.

(Source: BBC)