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Toyota recalls another 1.7 million cars over faulty airbags
The problems with Takata's potentially defective airbags persist years after they began. Toyota has recalled another 1.7 million cars worldwide, 1.3 million of them in the US, over possible faults in their airbag actuators. The new effort covers vehicles made between 2010 and 2015 and comes just weeks after Toyota issued a repeat recall for 65,000 cars after concerns an initial fix still wasn't safe.
Honda will use targeted Facebook videos to encourage recall repairs
As the Takata airbag recall -- the largest ever US auto recall -- continues, Honda has been looking for new ways to reach customers who haven't yet brought in their vehicles for repair. And the company's next move, as Reuters reports, is to target Honda owners through Facebook. Using the tool that allows advertisers to target particular subsets of Facebook accounts, Honda will match email addresses of those with recalled vehicles to Facebook users. According to the Associated Press, at least some of the messages geared towards those Facebook accounts will be videos from Honda owners who were injured from the faulty Takata airbag systems. You can see one of the public service announcements below.
Honda sets aside $605 million to settle Takata airbag claims
The Takata airbag scandal affected several companies, but Honda felt its impact the most. Now, the Japanese automaker has agreed to a $605 million settlement to pay for buyers' claims related to the deadly airbags in the US. The money Honda set aside will go towards paying for all the out-of-pocket costs and lost wages customers might have incurred from having to get their Takata airbag-equipped cars repaired. According to Financial Times, part of that amount will also be used to create an outreach program designed to speed up the pace of the recall as well as the replacement of recalled parts.
After Math: Come out and burn
As the current presidential administration keeps trying its best to be America's last, let's take a moment from the existential horror of nuclear annihilation at the hands of the world's other wannabe king and see who's been killing it in tech this week. Game of Thrones roasted way more horses and stuntmen than necessary in the name of VFX (spoilers, duh), Nissan is shelling out nearly another $100 million in hopes that the Takata airbag scandal will just drag itself into the woods and die already, and Facebook quietly took the Groups app out behind the woodshed mere days after axing the teen-targeting Lifestage app. Numbers, because how else are we going to accurately describe the literal decimation of the global human population when this pissing contest is over with?
Nissan settles Takata airbags lawsuit for $97.7 million
Earlier this year, we reported that Takata, the Japanese auto parts maker that was charged with criminal fraud for covering up faulty airbags, had agreed to pay a $1 billion settlement after a US federal investigation. This week, Nissan agreed to pay $97.7 million in a class-action settlement due to customers' economic loss because of the recall of 4.4 million vehicles equipped with Takata airbag inflators.
Faulty airbags cost Takata everything
Takata, the Japanese corporation at the heart of the auto industry's largest ever product recall, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The business supplied airbag inflators that, thanks to poor standards in the plant where they were manufactured, were faulty. The scandal forced a worldwide recall of more than 40 million vehicles and several deaths have been linked to the issue.
Takata pleads guilty to fraud in faulty airbag cover-up
Japanese auto parts maker Takata has formally pled guilty in federal court today to a criminal fraud charge stemming from its cover-up of millions of faulty airbags. As part of the guilty plea, Takata admitted it intentionally hid the fact that its airbag inflators could explode and throw hot metal shrapnel into drivers' faces.
Honda recalls another 772,000 vehicles with faulty airbags
While autoparts maker Takata, works out a criminal deal with the US Justice Department, the largest US auto recall ever is still getting bigger. According to the Associated Press, Honda Motor Company is recalling another 772,000 Honda and Acura vehicles with faulty airbags in the US.
Takata expected to settle deadly airbag scandal for $1 billion
For their part in the largest US auto recall ever, the Takata Corporation is expected to pay up to a $1 billion financial penalty and plead guilty to criminal misconduct, the Wall Street Journal reports today. The National Highway Highway Traffic Safety Administration recalled some 42 million vehicles in the US alone after discovering Takata's faulty airbag systems could deteriorate over time and risk causing an explosion of hot metal shrapnel upon inflation. The Takata systems were responsible for 11 deaths and over 100 injuries worldwide.
Toyota recalls another 1.4 million cars with defective airbags
Airbags have been at the center of the largest auto recall this year. Japanese corporate Takata's faulty airbags have forced major automakers to recall about 60 million cars in the US alone. While the automative industry is still dealing with the extent of the risks associated with Takata's airbags, which have been linked to over a dozen deaths and a hundred injuries, Toyota has now announced a second recall. The Japanese carmaker is recalling 1.43 million cars because of defective inflators and another 2.87 million cars that have fuel emission problems.
US automakers recall 12 million more vehicles with Takata airbags
Faulty Takata airbag inflators resulted in the recall of 12 million more US vehicles from eight major automakers on Friday. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration posted recalls from Honda, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Ferrari and Mitsubishi over the airbag issue, The AP reports. Dangerous inflators from Japanese company Takata have so far led to the recall of up to 40 million airbag systems worldwide. Japan's transport ministry also recalled an additional 7 million airbag systems on Friday.
The After Math: Regulation Nation
Exciting news coming from the wild world of government rule making this week. The FDA signed off on a medical experiment designed to jumpstart your brain after it's died. Surprisingly, no, lead-acid batteries are not involved. The FDA also made waves by denying minors the ability to buy e-cigarettes, prompting calls from the public for the agency to explain why it took so damn long to do so. The FAA relaxed its rules over drone swarms, Takata pissed off the DoT yet again and Tesla made the EPA look a little silly. Numbers, because the Feds said so.
Takata is reportedly recalling another 35 million airbag systems
If your car wasn't affected by Takata's massive airbag inflater recalls, it might be very shortly. Wall Street Journal tipsters hear that the Japanese firm is planning to recall "at least" 35 million more airbag inflaters, possibly as soon as this week. While the makes and models haven't been named, this would more than double the US recalls of 28.8 million airbag systems (over 40 million worldwide) from over a dozen car builders -- it may be hard to escape. The focus is on airbags that use ammonium nitrate to expel the airbag, but don't have a drying agent to prevent the moisture that triggers explosions.
US accuses airbag maker of faking test data
Takata has been in hot water over unsafe airbags for years, but there are new signs that it's particularly deep trouble. A US Senate report maintains that the vehicle part maker presented fake test data to minimize the scale of airbag recalls. In one situation, it presented bogus data to Honda about a new part. In another case, a director warned that info establishing the size of the recalls was frequently a "likely misrepresentation" of the facts, and even "technically unsupportable."
