Thu, May 05, 2016 page15

• Takata air bag recall could be doubled

  SOURCES SAY: US regulators are expected to announce that at least 35 million more Takata air bags need to be fixed, raising concerns about the company’s financial health

  • AP, DETROIT, Michigan
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  US auto safety regulators are in talks with Takata Corp to add tens of millions of air bag inflators to what already is the biggest auto recall in US history, three people briefed on the matter said on Tuesday.

  The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) wants the Japanese company to agree to a recall that could more than double the 28.8 million Takata inflators that already must be replaced, according to the people who requested anonymity because talks are still ongoing.

  Unlike most air bag makers, Takata’s inflators use the chemical ammonium nitrate to fill air bags in a crash, but they can explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister and spewing shrapnel into drivers and passengers.

  

  A technician holds a recalled Takata airbag inflator in Miami, Florida, on June 25 last year.

  Photo: Reuters

  At least 11 people have died worldwide and more than 100 have been hurt by the inflators. The latest death was a 17-year-old Texas girl who got into a relatively minor crash while driving her family’s 2002 Honda Civic.

  Neither the US government nor Takata would say if more recalls are coming, but under an agreement reached with the company last year, it must prove that the inflators are safe or begin recalling them in 2018.

  The government wants Takata to recall air bag inflators that do not have a drying agent called a dessicant, but the size of the recall expansion is unclear, the people said.

  The expansion is likely to include about 35 million front air bag inflators on US roads without the drying agent, but that still would not be a total recall of Takata air bags.

  The NHTSA has said there are a total of 85 million unrecalled Takata inflators in US vehicles, some with and without the drying agent.

  Such an expansion would cost Takata billions on top of what it already has spent replacing inflators, raising concerns about the company’s financial health.

  Takata did say in a statement that it is working with the NHTSA and automakers “to develop long-term, orderly solutions to these important safety issues.”

  The problem has been linked to older cars with long-term exposure to high humidity. That is why replacement parts are being targeted to areas such as the US Gulf Coast, although many of the cars have been recalled across the US.

  No one knows for certain how long it takes for the ammonium nitrate to deteriorate or whether inflators in older cars in cooler, less-humid states might explode in the future. That makes the safety of Takata inflators a potentially deadly unknown.

  The NHTSA has said that no inflators that contain the dessicant have ruptured, either in tests or on the road, except for two side air bag ruptures in testing that were blamed on a separate manufacturing defect.

  The agency based its estimate on data provided by Takata and the 14 car and truck makers that have Takata inflators in their vehicles.

  Takata has already agreed not to sign any more contracts to sell ammonium nitrate inflators.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Bologna advance to face AC Milan in Coppa final

  • 2

    Bukele proposes prisoner swap with Maduro

  • 3

    Wild’s top line too much for Vegas Golden Knights

  • 4

    HK, Macau residency rules tightened

  • 5

    Eric Chu, 2 others to be questioned for leading illegal assembly last week