Lawsuit Claims 5 Automakers Knew Of Deadly Takata Defects, But Decided To Use Them Anyway To Save Money

Attorneys for people suing air bag maker Takata Corp. and five automakers say the car companies knew Takata’s air bags were dangerous yet continued to use them for years because they were inexpensive.

The allegations against Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Ford and BMW were made in a court filing Monday in Miami, on the same day the Japanese auto supplier will be in a Detroit courtroom to plead guilty to wire fraud and pay $1 billion in criminal penalties stemming from the company’s fraudulent conduct related to sales of defective air bag inflators.

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TheSteve - 2/27/2017 5:22:06 PM

+1 Boost

BobM: Yup. I'm not defending VW, but readily available information (to those who seek it, want to find it, and not just to dismiss it) reveals that virtually the entire auto industry generates *far* more real-world pollution than in the lab (and lab-legal levels), and of all offenders, VW, and even VW's diesels, are NOT the worst!

Evidently, cheating on a test is the gravest of sins. Actual pollution generated, and choosing to use substandard components to save money (even if it kills people), is a much lesser and arguably forgivable transgression.

MDarringer - 2/27/2017 7:55:39 PM

0 Boost

The title presumes it is simple just to install different airbags just like that. Even if the automakers wanted to use other airbags, they would have to redesign and re-certify each vehicle line. Meanwhile, they would have no product to sell.