Japanese air bag maker Takata Corp. CEO Shigehisa Takada speaks at a press conference in Tokyo
U.S. auto safety regulators fined Japan’s Takata Corp. USD70 million yesterday for concealing evidence for years that its air bags are prone to explode with grisly consequences — a defect linked to eight deaths and more than 100 injuries worldwide.
Under an agreement with the government, Takata will phase out manufacture of air bag inflators that use ammonium nitrate, the propellant blamed for the explosions. It also agreed to a schedule over the next two years for replacing many of the devices already in use.
And unless it can prove they are safe, Takata may have to recall all its inflators, even those not yet implicated in the mess.
The company admitted that it knew for years that the inflators were defective but that it fended off recalls by failing to tell the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“Delay, misdirection and refusal to acknowledge the truth allowed a serious problem to become a massive crisis,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said.
In a statement, Takata CEO Shigehisa Takada said the company regrets the circumstances that led to the NHTSA agreement and will work to develop a new generation of inflators. He said the settlement will “enable us to focus on rebuilding the trust of automakers, regulators and the driving public.”
Under the five-year pact, NHTSA can increase the penalty to a record $200 million if the company fails to abide by the terms.
The biggest fine ever handed out by NHTSA is the $105 million levied against Fiat Chrysler earlier this year for failing to report safety problems and follow through on 23 recalls.
Takata’s inflators can rupture and hurl shrapnel at drivers and passengers in a crash. So far, about 23.4 million driver’s-side and passenger-side inflators have been recalled on 19.2 million U.S. vehicles sold by 12 automakers.
Honda, Takata’s biggest customer, essentially fired the supplier yesterday. All of the air bag-related deaths reported so far have been in Honda vehicles. Tom Krisher, Auto Writer, Detroit, AP
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