Faulty airbags warning expanded to 6.1. million U.S. cars - NHTSA

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. highway safety regulator, NHTSA, expanded its warning on Tuesday about faulty airbags made by Japanese auto-part maker Takata to 6.1 million vehicles in the United States.

"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration urges owners of certain Toyota, Honda, Mazda, BMW, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Chrysler, Ford and General Motors vehicles to act immediately on recall notices to replace defective Takata airbags," it said in a statement.

"Over six million vehicles are involved in these recalls, which have occurred as far back as 18 months ago and as recently as Monday," it added. The previous NHTSA warning, issued on Monday, covered 4.74 million vehicles, and dragged Takata's shares down 23 percent on Tuesday in Tokyo, the stock's biggest-ever one-day drop.

(Reporting by Sandra Maler; Editing by Peter Cooney)