NHTSA Considers Forcing Takata Competitors To Manufacture Replacement Airbags

U.S. auto safety regulators are considering unprecedented steps to speed up the replacement of potentially deadly Takata Corp air bags in millions of cars that remain on American roads despite massive recalls initiated by automakers.

In a letter dated March 3, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief Mark Rosekind told Senator Bill Nelson that regulators had the authority to increase supply of replacement parts by requiring more manufacturers to produce them.

If the NHTSA decides to exercise this right under the National Traffic and Motor Safety Act it would mark the first time the agency has done so since it was granted such authority in 2000.

Rosekind, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates major accidents, took the helm of NHTSA in December as the agency weathered criticism for not responding more quickly to the Takata defects and another deadly problem involving faulty General Motors Co ignition switches. - See more at: http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/latestnews/2015/03/05/NHTSA-could-tap-unexercised-authority-speed-Takata-recalls#sthash.9WKYaRjf.dpuf
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TheSteve - 3/6/2015 11:48:54 AM

+2 Boost

Maybe competitors should be legislated to start producing them next month?

Okay, kidding aside, if a company is not currently producing airbags, they have some options:

Option 1:
-Acquire & license the necessary know-how from someone who is currently successful at doing it
-Obtain the necessary machinery
-Establish the necessary raw material supply chains
-Identify the consumers, forecast demand, establish sales contracts
-Secure financing for the proposed expansion
-Possibly secure new production facilities
-Obtain the necessary new staff
-Install and prepare the machines
-Train the people
-Do sample runs and have them tested to ensure they meet or exceed standards

Option 2:
Same as above, except instead of acquiring the necessary know-how from someone else, start at square one with your own R&D and associated cost and effort.

Either way, it's not a simple task to start up a new production line, market and sell the products, and be profitable, just because the government says "make it so". It sucks when reality gets in the way of brilliant ideas, doesn't it?

Also see this article about Honda's own tests on the problematic airbags:
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/latestnews/2014/12/16/Honda-ran-tests-fatal-air-bag-flaw-frustrated-Takata-reticence-sources

Vette71 - 3/6/2015 4:28:40 PM

+1 Boost

Amen! You are on the mark as far as what is involved. The only option that NHTSA left off is having the other manufacturers make copies of the Takata bags but that just puts more potentially defective bags out there. It is scary to see a regulating body and our legislators with so little understanding of how things really work. All this emotion. Time to replace NHTSA with an extension of NTSB.