Bloomberg
The US government demanded automakers and Takata Corp expand an airbag recall nationwide, a move the Japanese supplier called dangerous because it could slow the distribution of replacements in the riskiest regions.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration yesterday called for Takata and 10 automakers to repair all cars with potentially defective driver’s side airbags, adding to the almost 8mn cars already recalled in the past two years in high-humidity states and territories.
Piecemeal, regional recalls have left car owners unsure about whether the air bags in their vehicles are prone to rupturing. NHTSA said it will use its legal authority to ensure vehicles that use the same or similar airbag inflator are repaired if Takata and the carmakers don’t agree quickly to a national recall. Takata says diverting replacement parts from where they’re needed may put “lives at risk.”
“These regional recalls are ludicrous and inappropriate,” said Joan Claybrook, a former NHTSA administrator who now advocates for consumer safety. “People take their cars to different parts of the country all the time.”
It’s still not known whether there’s a design defect and whether there are other problematic designs, Claybrook said.
NHTSA has been investigating Takata airbag inflators that could malfunction if exposed to consistently high humidity. The agency has said the condition could cause the devices to deploy with too much force, break apart metal pieces and strike passengers. The air bags are linked to four deaths in Honda Motor vehicles in the US and a fatal accident in Malaysia.
“We’re pushing Takata and all affected manufacturers to issue the recall and to ensure the recalls capture the full scope of the problems,” NHTSA Deputy Administrator David Friedman said in a November 18 statement on the agency’s website.
As part of Takata’s investigation, the company has tested almost 1,000 driver and passenger airbag inflators from outside high-humidity areas and none of those have ruptured, the Tokyo-based parts maker said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.
“Takata is concerned that a national recall under these circumstances could potentially divert replacement airbags from where they’re needed, putting lives at risk,” Alby Berman, an Auburn Hills, Michigan-based spokesman, said in the statement.
The company will continue evaluating inflators and is prepared for “appropriate expansions” of recalls if analysis by Takata and NHTSA indicate safety risk, he said.
The expansion of US recalls nationwide was the biggest risk Takata faced, company executives told analysts in Tokyo last week during a briefing closed to the media. The comments were confirmed by Hitoshi Sano, Takata’s head of investor relations.
Takata fell 7.4% in Tokyo to ¥1,099, the lowest closing price since April 2009. The stock has plunged 64% this year, the fourth-biggest decline among more than 1,800 companies in Japan’s benchmark Topix index, which has gained 7.2%.
NHTSA didn’t say how many additional vehicles would be recalled if Takata and the automakers comply with its demand.
Expanding recalls nationwide could result in more than 20mn vehicles getting called back and ¥100bn ($852mn) in additional expenses for Takata, Shintaro Niimura, a credit analyst at Nomura Holdings Inc, wrote in an October 27 report. Niimura, based in Tokyo, said yesterday the estimate applied to the number of cars that could be recalled if the NHTSA requires national safety actions for both driver’s and passenger’s side air bags.
Takata has already been struggling to ramp up production of replacement air bags under the regional recalls. The company projected as of September that it would be able to make only one-third of the 4.3mn repair kits needed by February.
Toyota Motor Corp anticipates having a greater supply of inflators next month, Jim Lentz, chief executive officer of Toyota’s North American operations, said yesterday.
“I don’t know if it’s more production, if they’re getting it from other suppliers,” Lentz said yesterday in an interview at the Los Angeles Auto Show. “I don’t know where it’s coming from. We just know we’re getting more inflators. As long as I get good inflators, that’s all that’s important.”
Safety advocates have blamed NHTSA for not doing enough in its probe of Takata. A federal grand jury has sent the company a subpoena to turn over documents and explain the defects with its safety devices, and the US Senate has scheduled a hearing this week to obtain more answers.
Honda, the automaker with the most US models affected by the earlier recalls, is working with NHTSA to investigate abnormal airbag inflator deployments, said Chris Martin, a company spokesman. The Tokyo-based company will expand the recalls affecting its vehicles if the investigation warrants it, Martin said.
General Motors Co is recalling only the 2002-2005 Pontiac Vibe, which was built under a joint agreement with Toyota, Alan Adler, a GM spokesman, said in an e-mail. Subaru, owned by Fuji Heavy Industries, is recalling a small number of Saab 9-2X models, which were built by Subaru for GM when the Detroit-based automaker owned Saab.
“We have no field data indicating a problem with Takata air bags in our vehicles,” Adler said. “We are continuing to monitor the situation and will put our customers’ safety ahead of all else.”
Nissan Motor Co, which has recalled seven models including the Sentra sedan in southern states since October, used driver’s side air bags manufactured by another supplier for its vehicles, Steve Yaeger, a company spokesman, said in an e-mail.
Ford Motor Co will continue to cooperate with NHTSA and take appropriate action, said Kelli Felker, a spokeswoman for the Dearborn, Michigan-based company. Mazda Motor has just seen the notification and will work closely with regulators, company spokesman Jeremy Barnes said.
Takata’s senior vice president in charge of global quality assurance, Hiroshi Shimizu, is scheduled to testify tomorrow at a hearing of the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on “how defective Takata air bags became installed in so many vehicles” and the responses of both the industry regulators to protect consumers.
