MEXICO CITY (REUTERS) - Mexico's economy ministry said it has requested information from the local unit of Japanese auto parts supplier Takata Corp to determine which car models have used Takata products at the centre of a global recall.

The economy ministry said on Wednesday that Takata had until Dec 5 to respond to the request and that the country's consumer protection agency could issue alerts based on the information that Takata provides.

Takata Corp acknowledged earlier in the day that it still does not understand what is causing air bag explosions in a global safety scandal that has involved the recall of more than 16 million cars worldwide and has been linked to at least five fatalities.

Mexico's deputy economy minister Rogelio Garza said the government is in the initial stages of investigating airbag inflators made at Takata's factory in Monclova in the country's north.

"We don't know what happened with the airbags," Garza said."What we have done here in Mexico is first to talk to Takata, and what they tell us is what I'm telling you: We have not identified what it is that is causing it, whether it is the cartridge that is exploding or another mechanism."

"So we are really just compiling information, investigating but at a local level until we know what happened," he added.

The Mexican government said it had also requested information from the countries' auto assembly plants regarding which models used Takata products.