The air bag supplier behind the largest recall ever, Takata Corp. is now one of the most infamous names in the auto industry. But just when it didn't seem the news could get any worse, a recent audit by Honda Motor Co. found that the air bag supplier removed results to reduce variability in performance tests of the parts. Until recently, Honda had been Takata's biggest customer.
Takata and Honda jointly hired Brian O'Neill last October to begin the audit. O'Neill, former president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, found that Takata had been using a technique he called "selective editing" to produce doctored results in performance tests for their now faulty inflators. He said that Takata left out the results "not because they were bad results, but because the results that remained were better. We found evidence that the report that went to Honda was a shorter version of the original version, and it was a prettier shortened version."
These findings of intentional manipulation and the misrepresentation of data to automakers could prove to be another major complication for the already maligned air bag supplier. Takata has recently been attempting to restructure and secure potential buyers. They will need the support of customers like Honda to weather this storm of controversy and these findings don't do anything to help their cause.
The Takata recall could potentially exceed 100 million air bag inflators worldwide. As many as 15 deaths have been linked to these faulty inflators, which can rupture and spray metal and plastic shrapnel around the cabin of the vehicle. Ten of these fatalities have already occurred in the United States, as well as over 100 serious injuries, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
If Takata is found to be solely at fault, it could face a bill of more than $10 billion. This is based on an estimate that each new replacement kit costs around $100 apiece.
Honda has already stated that it will no longer use Takata inflators in any of their new vehicles.
NAFA Fleet Management Association
http://www.nafa.org/