A US judge has rejected a bid by airbag manufacturer Takata Corp and automaker Honda Motor Co to toss out a class-action lawsuit on behalf of millions of owners with potentially faulty airbag inflators, even as the firms are moving to quickly settle death claims.
The Japanese companies have agreed to undisclosed settlements for six of eight deaths linked to ruptured inflators as US prosecutors ramp up a probe of the ruptures and whether regulators were misled. Four settlements have been reached in recent months.
Litigation arising from four of the six US deaths has been settled, Honda spokesman Chris Martin said. Court records show a fifth US death — in September last year in California — has also been settled.
Honda, Takata and other automakers would continue to face a class-action suit filed on behalf of millions of owners that alleges Takata and the automakers violated anti-racketeering laws because of a ruling on Wednesday by US District Judge Federico Moreno in Miami.
Since 2008, at least 19.2 million US vehicles have been recalled for inflators that can rupture. The suit claims millions of car owners overpaid for vehicles with faulty airbags and the recalls reduced the value of those vehicles.
“Honda looks forward to the opportunity to properly challenge plaintiffs’ claims,” Martin said. He said the automaker is confident that the racketeering claim would be dismissed.
Takata declined to comment on the ruling.
The previously unreported civil settlements cover five airbag deaths in the US — including two reported inflator deaths this year in Texas and Louisiana — and an incident last year in Malaysia in which a pregnant woman was killed and her baby subsequently died.
Judge Moreno approved that settlement on Nov. 20.
Honda has confirmed seven airbag deaths since 2009. An inflator is also suspected in the 2013 death of a California man in a 2002 Acura TL.
Separately, Japan has banned certain Takata airbag inflators from future cars and set time frames for the components to be phased out from existing models, taking measures nearly identical to a US regulator’s order one month ago.
Automakers would not be allowed to use Takata airbag inflators with ammonium nitrate propellant in cars under development, Japan’s transport ministry said in a statement issued yesterday in Tokyo.
Inflators without a moisture-absorbing substance are to be phased out from driver-side airbags by 2017 and passenger-side devices by 2018.
The airbag inflator ban and phase-out plan that applies even to models spared from airbags malfunctions follows a similar enforcement action that went into force one month ago by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
After the agency’s order, automakers including Honda, Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co said they would not use Takata’s airbag inflators with ammonium nitrate propellant.
“We are to make every effort in the production and distribution of our products to supply replacement parts as soon as possible,” Takata spokeswoman Akiko Watanabe said by telephone.
The company takes the ministry’s instructions seriously and would do its best to restore credibility with automakers, regulators and other stakeholders, she said.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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