Takata Pleads Guilty to Airbag Defect Charges

Japanese auto parts maker Takata Corp. pleaded guilty on February 27 to a criminal charge and agreed to pay $1 billion for a scheme to conceal a deadly defect in millions of its air bag inflators.

Takata admitted to hiding problems that can cause inflators to explode with too much force, hurling shrapnel into drivers and passengers. U.S. prosecutors still are seeking extradition of three former Takata executives from Japan to face criminal charges.

Detroit federal Judge George Caram Steeh accepted a guilty plea to a fraud charge.

News reports say that Takata agreed to pay $850 million in restitution to automakers, $125 million for victims and families, and a $25-million criminal fine. Separately, the company faces consumer and state lawsuits.

The inflators are blamed for at least 16 deaths worldwide and more than 180 injuries. The problem touched off the largest automotive recall in U.S. history, involving 42 million vehicles and 60 million inflators. (Read "Airbag Recall Tests Global Supply Chain.")

Attorneys for people who filed suit on February 27 against Takata and five automakers allege the car companies knew that Takata's products were dangerous yet continued to use them because they were inexpensive. The allegations against Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Ford, and BMW were made in a court filing in Miami.

News reports say that in the court filing, plaintiffs lawyers allege that the automakers were “far from innocent” in the case, and that they had independent knowledge that Takata's air bag inflators were unsafe before putting them in vehicles.