Takata filed for bankruptcy Monday following lawsuits, fines and recall costs for millions of lethally defective air bags in the U.S. and abroad. The air bags proved to be the company’s undoing and an article by the New Jersey Herald claims it could take years to get the dangerous devices off the road.
“Crushed by lawsuits, fines and recall costs, the Japanese auto parts supplier filed for bankruptcy in Tokyo and Delaware and will sell most of its assets for $1.6 billion to a rival company,” the article reads. “A small part of Takata will continue to manufacture replacements for the faulty air bag inflators.”
Read more: Bankruptcy Attorneys, East Brunswick, NJ
About 100 million of the Takata inflators across the world have been recalled; 69 million in the U.S. alone. It’s reportedly the biggest automotive recall in American history. It will take the industry years to produce all the necessary replacements.
“In the meantime, millions of car owners are forced to nervously wait for someone to fix a problem blamed for at least 16 grisly deaths worldwide, 11 of them in the United States. Many owners have been put on waiting lists by their dealers until the parts arrive,” the article reads. “The big problem is the air bags are still out there. They’re like bombs waiting to explode, said Billie-Marie Morrison, the lawyer for a young Las Vegas woman grievously injured by an exploding air bag in March.”
According to the New Jersey Herald, the last batch of repairs in the U.S. won’t start until September of 2020. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is overseeing the recall.
More than 16 million inflators have been repaired so far in the U.S. That’s about 38 percent of the total. In Japan, 70 percent have been replaced, according to Takata. That’s partly because Japan refuses to renew vehicle registrations unless recalls have been completed.
“Because of the type of chemical propellant used by Takata, the defective air bags can inflate with too much force and spew deadly shrapnel at drivers and passengers,” the article reads. “Takata sold the inflators to 19 automakers, including Toyota, Subaru, BMW, Honda, Ford and Nissan.”
Takata’s bankruptcy filing clears the way for most of its assets to be taken over by Key Safety Systems, which is a Chinese-owned company based in suburban Detroit.
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