AUTOS-TAKATA/RECALL-USA Takata air bag recall is largest auto recall in U.S. history

Record ID: 135167

  • Title: AUTOS-TAKATA/RECALL-USA Takata air bag recall is largest auto recall in U.S. history
  • Date: 19th May 2015
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (FILE - NOVEMBER 20, 2014) (UNRESTRICTED POOL) (SOUNDBITE) (English) STEPHANIE ERDMAN, A VICTIM OF TAKATA'S AIR BAG DEFECT SAYING: "I was instantly blinded on my right side. I felt gushing blood running down my neck. I was terrified."
  • Embargoed: 3rd June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAZYT37CRLUW1LY3AW1S81VLDJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Japanese air bag manufacturer Takata Corp. has agreed to declare nearly 34 million vehicles defective due to problems with air bag inflators, creating the largest automotive recall in American history, U.S. safety regulators said on Tuesday (May 19).
    The recall, which still does not identify the reason why the problem is occurring, involves passenger and driver-side air bags in vehicles made by 11 automakers, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said. It expands on previous regional and national recalls for the same issue.
    Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said NHTSA also issued a consent order to Takata, requiring the supplier to cooperate in the safety agency's ongoing probe as well as any oversight.
    NHTSA also said it will "organize and prioritize the replacement of defective Takata inflators" under its legal authority.
    "Up until now, Takata has refused to acknowledge that their airbags are defective. That changes today," Foxx said during a news conference in Washington with NHTSA Administrator Mark R. Rosekind, who called the recall and its remedy enormously complex.
    "As far as we know this is the largest recall in auto history. Others are doing research and suggest it could be one of the largest, if not the largest, in all of consumer recalls," Rosekind said.
    U.S. lawmakers, who had pushed for a broader recall, praised the news, including Democratic Florida Senator Bill Nelson.
    Six deaths have been linked to the defective air bags, all in cars made by Honda, which has borne the brunt of the Takata recalls to date and which gave a disappointing profit forecast last month due to higher costs related to quality fixes.
    Takata faces multiple class actions in the United States and Canada as well as a U.S. criminal investigation and a regulatory probe.
    "It's fair to say this is probably the most complex consumer safety recall in U.S. history," Foxx said. "So, we have a lot of work to do especially with regard to why this happened in the first place."
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