As a result of our review of these documents, we have become aware of evidence that suggests that Takata misrepresented and manipulated test data for certain airbag inflators.
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Earlier on Wednesday, US regulators slapped Takata with a massive $70 million fine for selling its botched inflators. Because of that, the agreement announced Tuesday “lays out a schedule for recalling all Takata ammonium nitrate inflators now on the roads, unless the company can prove they are safe or can show it has determined why its inflators are prone to rupture”, NHTSA said in a statement.
The company, meanwhile, still faces hundreds of lawsuit and a criminal investigation led by the US Justice Department. “In connection with the Consent Order, NHTSA also issued findings that Takata provided NHTSA with selective, incomplete or inaccurate data dating back to at least 2009, and continuing through the agency’s current investigation, and that Takata also provided its customers with selective, incomplete or inaccurate data”.
NHTSA also ordered General Motors to pay $35 million in May for violations tied to its ignition switch scandal.
The case involves a defect in the airbag inflators that can cause them to explode violently upon deployment and spray metal fragments into the passenger cabin.
Japanese air bag maker Takata got hit with a $70 million penalty fine on Tuesday after failing to rapidly alert regulators about defective air bags, according a press release from the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Takata’s Hiroshi Shimizu and Honda’s Rick Schostek appeared in congressional hearings on the airbag recall in Washington a year ago.
NHTSA has given manufacturers until the end of 2019 to make the repairs but said that was an accelerated timetable that will give priority to vehicles at greater risk.
The Consent Order also requires the company to phase out the production and sale of inflators that use phase-stabilised ammonium nitrate propellant.
In a settlement with federal officials, Takata agreed to declare that inflaters in the airbags are defective.
“Today, we are holding Takata responsible for its failures”, NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said.
At the center of the defect is the device Takata uses to inflate the airbag, with ammonium nitrate, during a crash.
A total of 23 million defective inflators need to be replaced, but less than a quarter of the affected cars in the USA have been repaired, NHTSA said in a briefing October 22. Foxx said the company previously said it had discovered the problem and was fixing it. Honda has bristled at that suggestion but so far it has not demanded compensation from Takata for the cost of investigative or voluntary recalls.
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The agency will appoint an independent monitor to observe Takata for five years to ensure the company is complying with the orders.
