Takata pleads guilty, amid allegations of carmaker prior knowledge

2014 Honda Jazz

A deal between the US justice department and Japanese airbag manufacturer Takata has seen the company agree to pay $US1 billion ($A1.3b), and plead guilty to a felony charge in a US Federal Court. 

Lawyers representing US vehicle owners objected to the settlement, claiming at least four carmakers knew about the defective Takata inflators for a number of years and continued to use them. 

The accused companies include Ford, Honda, Nissan and Toyota, with the allegations being based on evidence gained from the carmakers' own internal communications.

But Reuters reports US District Court judge George Steeh approved the settlement anyway.

Included in the judge’s reasons was the fact individuals could still be identified as victims of Takata’s decision to hide evidence over 15 years that its inflators were faulty, and that the car manufacturers could still be subject to civil litigation.

So far 10 manufacturers have been forced to recall 31 million vehicles around the world to fix the problem.

The troubled airbag manufacturer will likely increase its search for a new financial backer, or a buyer, now the penalties are locked in.

Judge Steeh approved a lower settlement figure than he could have according to Reuters, and did so to avoid delaying the replacement of millions of faulty inflators by sending Takata broke. 

“I would like to sincerely apologise on behalf of Takata,” said the company’s chief financial officer Yoichiro Nomura, who appeared in court to accept the plea agreement.

The New York Times reports that Takata was manipulating safety data in a bid to conceal potentially deadly defects, and that the US justice department’s investigation paints the carmakers as unwitting victims. 

Plaintiffs in the civil action are arguing car manufacturers were more involved in the handling of the inflator defect, however in a filing in a Florida court this week, carmakers cited Takata’s plea deal as confirmation the Japanese parts maker was solely to blame.

So far 10 manufacturers have been forced to recall 31 million vehicles around the world to fix the problem. The exploding inflators have killed 16 people, 15 of them in vehicles made by Honda. 

The company agreed last month to establish two separate funds. One capitalised at $US125m ($A162m) for those wounded by the dodgy airbags, and a second cashed up to the tune of $US850 million ($A1.1b) to compensate the car manufacturers for the enormous number of vehicles they have had to recall.

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