HONDA DROPS TAKATA AIRBAGS

Honda Motor Company recently dropped Takata as the supplier of airbags for its cars. This came on the heels of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration fining Takata $70 million for failing to disclose defects in its airbags. According to NHTSA, Takata manipulated its test data and “Takata produced testing reports that contained selective, incomplete, or inaccurate data.”

Eight deaths and over 100 injuries have been linked to defective airbags.

According to Honda, it too “identified other apparent instances of misleading or inaccurate test data that were provided to Honda over time.” Obviously, Honda is positioning itself to shift blame to Takata in lawsuits and regulatory matters.

To some degree, these events remind me of an episode of “Law And Order” where the suspects start making deals to save their own skin.