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Four Automakers Knew Takata's Airbag Inflators Were Dangerous, Lawyers Say

Takata’s airbag inflator scandal erupted in 2014, and it seemed that the Japanese supplier was acting in a deceptive manner to hide its actions from its clients.
Frontal airbags deployed in a sketch of a Volvo 1 photo
Photo: Volvo
As the years went by and the number of vehicles that had to be repaired grew, the investigation advanced, which led to the discovery of startling facts. One of those is that some automakers still assemble cars with airbag inflators from Takata that are not desiccated, which means they will have to be replaced in a few years through a recall campaign.

Meanwhile, the victims of Takata’s defective airbag inflators have sued the Japanese company, and details from the lawsuit have brought new information to light.  According to the legal team representing the plaintiffs, at least four automakers have known about Takata’s potentially defective airbag inflators for years.

At least 11 people died in the USA because of the faulty airbag inflators made by Takata, and over 100 were injured in accidents that involved the deployment of those devices.

The class action lawsuit in Florida is based on company documents, and it brings fresh allegations against Honda, Ford, Toyota, and Nissan, which are accused of knowing about these airbags’ potential problems for years before the recall was started.

According to The New York Times, Honda’s officials have denied the new allegations this Monday. The representatives of the three other brands mentioned about told the media that a response would come through legal channels, or just declined to comment.

This is not the first time in the Takata airbag fiasco where third parties accuse automakers that they were knowledgeable about potential problems with the non-desiccated airbag inflators made by the supplier, but continued using them for cost-related issues.

About 42 million vehicles will have to be recalled over the next few years, and the campaign will involve replacing approximately 70 million airbags and airbag inflators.

You can unmistakably say that the savings made over the course of 15 years, which is the time elapsed between the year when the first automaker allegedly learned about the potentially faulty airbags and the start of the recall, will be overshadowed by the expenses that will be made to replace all of the defective parts.

But hey! Saving a few bucks is worth the effort if you are a global corporation that makes billions each year.
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 Download: Plaintiff's Court Filing (PDF)

About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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