Four Automakers Accused Of Being Complicit In Takata Airbag Coverup

A lawsuit in Florida accuses four major automakers of knowing that the Takata airbags they were using were defective for years and did absolutely nothing about it. The four automakers are Ford, Honda, Nissan, Toyota.

Takata knew that their airbags were defective and hid that fact from regulators for over a decade. At least 11 deaths and over 100 injuries in the US have been attributed to those defective airbags. Takata reached a pretty sweet plea deal that forced the company to admit guild for providing false data and pay a $1 billion fine. In addition, three company executives are also accused of fabricating data.

This new suit, based on internal company documents, charges that the automakers knew about the problems with the Takata airbags but went ahead with them because of their “inexpensiveness”. Honda was intimately involved in the development of the airbags with Takata, especially the propellant that proved to become unstable over time and caused the airbags to explode. In fact, tests at Honda’s own facilities resulted in at least two uncontrolled explosions. So Honda was aware of the problem and the other automakers soon found out as well. Toyota deemed Takata’s quality as “unacceptable” and one of the airbags exploded at a Toyota test facility in 2004. But the company continued to use the airbags because of cost concerns. Nissan’s own expert believed that moisture made the propellant more unstable and suggested adding a drying agent. And Ford chose Takata over the objections of its own expert.

In addition, the suit also objects to the Takata plea deal, saying that the automakers were also complicit in the cover-up and objecting that the $125 million set aside for the victims in the settlement was insufficient.

Sadly, we’ve all gotten used to businesses cutting corners and outright lying in order to boost the bottom line. But you really have to wonder what drives the people who make these decisions to so cavalierly put people’s lives at risk for just a few more bucks. There is something seriously wrong with the morals and ethics of our current business leaders and it doesn’t look like it will be fixed anytime soon. And many would argue it has been forever thus.