Takata Tells Lawmakers It Won’t Expand Airbag Recall

During a Congressional hearing on December 3, Takata Corp. clung to its assertion that there is no need for a national recall of its faulty airbags and said it would not accede to the wishes of federal safety regulators demanding the action. The Japanese supplier also stated that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration lacked the authority to compel the supplier to institute any sort of recall. NHTSA disagreed with the claim.

At issue is are airbag’s inflators that may explode with too much force, spewing plastic and metal shrapnel into the vehicle cabin. At least five deaths and dozens of injuries have been linked to the problem worldwide. The current regional recall affects 7.8 million vehicles. Hiroshi Shimizu, Senior Vice President of Global Quality Assurance at Takata, told the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee during the hearing that the available data and scientific evidence on the airbags "doesn’t support" a nationwide recall.

On November 26, NHTSA issued a letter to Takata and several automakers demanding they broaden a recall of driver’s side airbags to all 50 states. It gave the supplier until December 2 to respond to the request or face further action by the agency. Those actions could include a $7,000 fine for every vehicle with a faulty airbag. The maximum amount NHTSA can fine a company is currently $35 million. Takata’s refusal to comply with the demand means the agency may have to go to court to enforce the order. David Friedman, NHTSA’s Deputy Administrator, said the agency is contemplating its next move. The supplier said expanding the recall is not only unnecessary, but would divert the replacement parts away from the areas of the country where they are needed. If expanded, it would double the number of vehicles needing replacements to 16 million.

Despite expanding production of the replacements, the supplier can only produce 450,000 units each month and it won’t reach that level until early next year. NHTSA suggested last month that Takata enlist the assistance of other manufacturers to speed the production of the needed replacements.

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