It’s been a long road to this point, but Takata’s CFO, Yoichiro Nomura, finally had the opportunity to plead guilty on behalf of the company to fraud. The company accepted a $1 billion settlement with the U.S. government yesterday as Nomura condemned Takata’s actions as “deeply inappropriate.”
U.S. District Court Judge George Steeh confirmed the previously agreed-to settlement against objections from lawyers for victims of Takata airbag inflator explosions, who claimed the criminal settlement mistakenly identified automakers as victims of Takata’s unlawful behavior.
“The conduct leading to today’s plea was completely unacceptable,” Nomura said inside the Detroit courtroom. “I would like to sincerely apologize on behalf of Takata. The actions of certain Takata employees to undermine the integrity of the company’s testing data and reporting to customers were deeply inappropriate.”
Nomura confessed the company had been aware of potential problems with its airbags’ explosive ammonium nitrate propellant in 2000, and had manipulated the test data provided to automakers. Those faulty airbag inflators ended up installed in millions of vehicles, causing unnecessary injuries and death.
“All of it could have been avoided,” if employees had been honest, Judge Steeh said.
The massive global recall has financially crippled Takata, and it claims that it will need to use the proceeds from its sale to fulfill the terms of the settlement. “Destruction of the corporation would probably have been a fair outcome in this case,” Steeh said, before mentioning his involvement in another case where Takata had admitted to price fixing.
However, Steeh explained that he intentionally avoided the imposition of a stiffer sentence or larger fines. The settlement he approved was set at $1 billion because Takata would otherwise have likely slipped into bankruptcy, stalling efforts to recall millions of the deadly airbag inflators still installed in vehicles.
The plea agreement was developed in negotiations between the U.S. Department of Justice and Takata prior to Steeh’s approval. It includes a $25 million criminal fine, a $125 million compensation fund to be set up a month from now, and $850 million to be paid to automakers within five days of a sale or acquisition by another company.
[Source: Reuters]
How much would you pay for a company with a $850m liability, a staff of liars and cheats, and a deep commitment to airbag technology that has been widely panned as unsuitably dangerous by the rest of the industry? But, at least they can churn out airbags for a few bucks less than the competition.
“How much would you pay for a company with a $850m liability…”
I dunno… how much Tokyo real estate comes with that?
Manufacturers have known about them for a long time.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/09/12/business/air-bag-flaw-long-known-led-to-recalls.html?_r=0&referer=http://blog.caranddriver.com/honda-taking-heat-for-hiding-deaths-injuries-from-exploding-airbag-recalls/
why is the article image of a Focus which isn’t under this recall and which AFAIK doesn’t use Takata airbag inflators?
The website is still in sort of a “cottage industry” phase. So stock (and rather generic) photos get used when necessary.
When Honda is the largest shareholder of Takata and known inside the industry, journalist can spit all the “fake news” they want too.
http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/24/news/companies/honda-underreport-deaths-injuries/
The automakers *are* victims, but only in a financial sense, of course.
The judge did the right thing; destroying the company would only backfire.
HMC had allot invested in Takata. To say they were close is an understatement.
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0WQ22O
Lawyers make $, consumers stuck with cars they are not supposed to even drive are left screwed.
Lawyers need to get paid, too. This isn’t their fault.
In my mind I’m replaying the scene near the end of Hacksaw Ridge, where the Japanese commander on Okinawa commits seppuku, with the assistance of his subordinates.