Airbag-Maker Takata Files for Bankruptcy After Global Recalls

Airbag maker Takata files for bankruptcy in the US and Japan after global recalls and lawsuits.

Honda has had to recall many of its cars due to the faulty Takata-sourced airbags. 

(Photo: Honda India)

Automobile airbag-maker Takata has filed for bankruptcy in the US and Japan, after it was faced with millions of dollars in lawsuits and airbag recalls by multiple car makers. The faulty airbags made by Takata and installed in cars from different manufacturers have been related to at least 17 deaths worldwide, forcing recalls of nearly 100 million cars across the world.

According to a Bloomberg report, the bankruptcy filing ends nearly eight years of recalls that spiraled into a much larger issue worldwide. The company has nearly $10 billion in liabilities arising from lawsuit claims from Honda and Toyota among others, who were among Takata’s clients. Takata’s assets will be acquired by a Chinese company called Key Safety Systems Inc. for about $1.6 billion.

A car with its airbags deployed. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

The airbag recall, which started nearly eight years ago, followed reports of deaths even in minor accidents due to airbag deployment. The airbag inflating device used in Takata’s airbag systems was faulty, leading it to explode with far greater force than necessary during a crash, causing shards of metal to fly through the car, severely injuring passengers.

Key Safety Systems will not be buying the part of the business related to manufacturing and sale of Takata airbag inflators though. This was the problematic part in question, as the ammonium nitrate used in the inflating device was highly unstable, degrading with time and exposure to heat, causing it to explode violently.

In India, Honda Car India was part of the affected cars using Takata airbags. Honda recalled 41,500-odd cars made by it in 2012, to replace the faulty airbag inflators. Honda recalled another 1.9 lakh cars in 2016 related to airbag replacements. No deaths or issues were reported by Honda in India though, but this was just part of the global recall of cars using Takata airbags. Toyota too was forced to recall 1.4 million cars worldwide due to faulty airbags.

Also Read: Honda Recalls Civic, City and Jazz Over Faulty Airbags in India