FORD Australia has started to recall vehicles fitted with potentially deadly Takata airbags — including Ranger and Courier utes and Econvans from 2004 to 2011 — but not all dealers have the information or the parts.

Customers have contacted News Corp Australia saying their local Ford dealer was unaware of the recall even though the bulletin went out last Friday.

Ford says customers need to supply their VIN (vehicle identification number) to a service department for the recall to be flagged in the dealer computer network.

A number of dealers contacted by News Corp Australia claimed they were unaware of the Takata airbag recall and had not received a bulletin from Ford.

Ford says it has since reissued an alert to all dealers advising them of the Takata airbag recall campaign.

Ford was among the brands caught up in the latest, compulsory recall of Takata airbags, which included inflators made in Germany — even though the cars were made in other countries.

Other brands included Holden (333,000), Volkswagen (107,000), Jaguar-Land Rover (17,000) and Audi and Mercedes (close to 50,000 each). Tesla is yet to issue a recall or outline how many cars are affected.

Prior to this latest recall, the Takata airbag safety campaign focused on inflators made in Mexico, Thailand and Japan.

Ford is recalling 107,800 vehicles in total in Australia but is targeting older models first, because they are the most vulnerable to deteriorating and spraying shrapnel when deployed in a crash.

The models Ford Australia is fixing first are:

Econovan (2004-2005) — approx. 1300 vehicles

Courier (2004-2006) — approx. 21,000 vehicles

Ranger (2006-2011) — approx. 69,500 vehicles

At a later date the following Ford vehicles will be recalled to have their Takata airbags replaced:

Mondeo (2007-2009) — approx. 9,500 vehicles

Mondeo (2015-2017) — approx. 6,500 vehicles

Ford says none of its vehicles are equipped with the “alpha” Takata airbag, which have a one-in-two chance of spraying shrapnel in a crash.

Testing by Takata has found the remaining 2.3 million airbags have approximately a 1 per cent chance of spraying shrapnel if deployed in a crash.

Ford says it is not aware of any ruptures globally relating to the type of Takata airbag inflators fitted to its cars.

This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling