Takata Airbag Fight Escalates As Feds Set Ultimatum

The fall-out from the Takata airbag recall continues to intensify, with US federal safety regulators giving the Japanese company a deadline to take responsibility for the flawed safety tech and agree to a national replacement program. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had told Takata earlier this month that it wanted all cars in the US fitted with the potentially dangerous airbags to be recalled, but the parts firm has held off from complying, likely because of the associated cost and legal liabilities for the millions of vehicles that would impact. Now, the NHTSA is putting its foot down.

In a new letter sent to Takata, the NHTSA has given the firm until Tuesday, December 2nd to file the necessary paperwork that there is, indeed, a defect and that the whole of the US should be subject to a recall.

The issue can be a serious one. Airbags have been found to explode with far greater force than initially designed to use, breaking off other components in the process and turning them into makeshift shrapnel. Some models of cars dating back to 2008 are affected.

So far, while Takata has conceded that there's a problem, it has also maintained that it is only when combined with high levels of humidity that it might actually manifest. The recalls it has sanctioned, therefore, have been limited to states with high humidity; car manufacturers have therefore been contacting owners to bring their vehicles in from those states to have the airbags repaired, but any cars outside of those zones are not eligible.

That's not good enough for the NHTSA, and it's threatening a heavy hand if Takata doesn't comply.

"Be assured that we will use all of our authority and resources to ensure that America's drivers and passengers are safe," Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement on the issue. The NHTSA is flagging two cases of driver's side airbags firing incorrectly in non-humid climates: one in North Carolina, and another in California.

"Despite the severe consequences of air bag ruptures and mounting data demonstrating a safety defect," the NHTSA letter claims, "Takata responded that it did not agree with NHTSA's basis for a nationwide recall."

While there are legal hoops to jump through between the letter and a fine, the NHTSA could eventually have grounds to charge Takata up to $7,000 per affected vehicle. There are "millions" on the roads still, the agency says, with around 8m already having been recalled in the US.

VIA USA Today