Japanese airbag manufacturer Takata Corp is recalling 34 million vehicles in the United States that it believes may be affected by potentially deadly airbags.
It is the largest automotive recall in US history, according to safety regulators.
The recall involves passenger and driver-side airbag inflators in vehicles made by 11 automakers, the US Department of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Takata said.
It expands on the 16.6 million vehicles called back for repairs for the same issue in previous regional and national recalls, and increases the number of vehicles affected globally since 2008 to more than 53 million.
Regulators have linked six deaths worldwide to defective Takata airbags which exploded too violently and shot shrapnel into the vehicles.
Takata CEO Shigehisa Takada said in a statement: "We are pleased to have reached this agreement with NHTSA, which represents a clear path forward."
The company declined to say whether markets outside the US would be affected.
The potentially faulty airbags have already led to a possible recall of up to 100,000 cars on Irish roads.
It was only under pressure from US regulators that Takata agreed to the expanded recall.
It had previously resisted expanding the recalls, saying the defect cited by automakers was not "officially recognised."
Toyota, Nissan and Honda had expanded their Takata recalls over the past week.
The automakers have said they decided to proceed with their recalls after finding some Takata airbag inflators were not sealed properly, allowing moisture to seep in to the propellant casing.
Moisture damages the propellant and can lead to an inflator exploding with too much force.
The six deaths linked to the defective air bags have all been in cars made by Honda, which has borne the brunt of the Takata recalls to date.
Honda gave a disappointing profit forecast last month due to higher costs related to quality fixes.
Takata shares fell by as much as 12% to their lowest in more than a month in Tokyo today, and traded 9.7% lower in the afternoon. Honda shares were flat.
US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said NHTSA also issued a consent order to Takata, requiring the supplier to cooperate in the safety agency's probe as well as any oversight.
NHTSA also said it will "organise and prioritise the replacement of defective Takata inflators" under its legal authority.
This is the first time the agency has used this power since it was granted in 2000.
"We will not stop our work until every air bag is replaced," Mr Foxx said.
