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Honda won’t rescue the company behind faulty auto air bags

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Honda Motor Co. President and Chief Executive Takahiro Hachigo ruled out a bailout for embattled air bag supplier Takata. Above, Hachigo spoke Wednesday at a news conference in Tokyo.

TOKYO >> Honda’s president is sticking to the Japanese automaker’s stance that it plans no independent financial bailout for supplier Takata, which is embroiled in a massive recall crisis over air bag inflators that may explode.

Takahiro Hachigo, Honda Motor Co. president and chief executive, told reporters Wednesday that the company plans no rescue for Takata Corp., and that its priority is finding the cause of the problem. Although Honda is Takata’s biggest customer, the recall involves many other automakers.

Takata is globally recalling 50 million air bag inflators, which may cause air bags to inflate with too much force and hurl shrapnel at drivers and passengers. Takata air bags have caused at least 10 deaths and 139 injuries worldwide.

Hachigo declined comment on Tuesday’s findings by the Independent Testing Coalition, the scientists hired by the auto industry, including Honda, which determined that multiple factors, including moisture and high humidity, were to blame.

“How to respond is not a matter of just our company,” Hachigo said when asked whether Honda planned to take a leadership role.

Hachigo had more to say about Honda’s environmental strategy.

He said two-thirds of Honda’s sales will be zero-emissions, including fuel cells and electric vehicles, hybrids and plug-ins by 2030.

Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp. announced last year that almost all its sales will be hybrids and fuel cells by 2050, underlining a similar commitment to reduce global warming and pollution.

The new version of Honda’s Clarity fuel cell will go on sale starting in Japan next month, and the next-general fuel-cell system, which Honda is working on with U.S. automaker General Motors Co., will start production in about 2020, Hachigo said.

Hachigo took the helm at Tokyo-based Honda last year after his predecessor stepped down amid quality problems, including some that predated the Takata fiasco.

Hachigo promised to maintain quality, while pushing what he called “global models” such as the Fit, Civic and Accord, which will be adapted for various markets. Such a move will cut costs.

Some of the Fit subcompact and Accord hybrids that are made in Japan will be shipped to North America, while the Jazz, as the Fit is called in Europe, and the HR-V and CR-V sport utility vehicles will be shipped from Japan to be sold in Europe.

Both moves are intended to keep production in Japan at about 950,000 vehicles, to serve as the “mother” system for Honda’s global production methods, Hachigo said.

4 responses to “Honda won’t rescue the company behind faulty auto air bags”

  1. mitt_grund says:

    The extent of the distribution of this faultily constructed device is suggestive that the Takata Corp may be criminally liable – deliberately(?) putting a faulty product on the market – end objective, profits and greed. Information now becoming available suggests that the Takata air bag is in more car makes than they have led us to believe. Patient timebombs, waiting to do their damage. Auto makers need to disclose how many of these devices are in their cars and quickly act to recall and replace before more lives are lost.

    Where’s Ralph Nader when we need him?

    • cojef says:

      While pointing fingers, Volkswagen deliberately designed software to defeat pollution testing equipment which affect global warming. The company has not received as much as attention. Headline begs the question would anyone if you had the resource rescue this company that manufactured faulty products. The answer is obviously no, so why should Honda or any other auto manufacturer using unknowing the faulty product?

    • mikethenovice says:

      If Honda made cars that only last no more than five year, then it would have been traded in new car, and junked.

  2. mikethenovice says:

    Honda doesn’t want to invest any money in repairing an old car. They want you to trade it in for a brand new car, instead.

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