Honda Bans Takata Airbags From Future Models

After allegations of continuous manipulation and misinformation made by airbag maker Takata Corp., Honda Motor Co. said it will ban the company from supplying airbags for all of its future vehicles. On a global basis, no new Honda and Acura models currently under development will be equipped with front-driver or passenger-side Takata airbag inflators, Honda said in a statement Tuesday. Honda has long been Takata’s largest customer, but this move comes as no surprise. If you want to know how this decision has influenced the costs of insuring a Honda, get free car insurance quotes. Some carriers will appreciate the move, suggesting that a more competent air bag manufacturer will make the car safer.

The decision came after Honda in recent months studied millions of pages of Takata internal documents related to litigation over defective airbag inflators that have been linked to eight deaths, all of which happened in Honda vehicles.

“As a result of our review of these documents, we have become aware of evidence that suggests that Takata misrepresented and manipulated test data for certain airbag inflators,” Honda said in the statement. “Honda expects its suppliers to act with integrity at all times and we are deeply troubled by this apparent behavior by one of our suppliers.”

Honda’s statement did not name other suppliers it plans to rely on. Besides Takata, the major players in the business are Daicel Corp. of Japan, TRW Automotive (now part of Germany’s ZF Friedrichshafen AG) and Autoliv of Sweden.

Honda’s move comes right after U.S. regulators fine the Japanese safety system supplier $70 million and hit the company with a consent order demanding quicker reaction to the massive airbag recalls. Takata faces another $130 million in fines if it fails to comply with the consent order, U.S. regulators said in a statement.

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by Ciprian Gurgu