Takata’s Seat Belts May Be Recalled Next
The company went bankrupt after its defective airbag inflators turned deadly. Now inaccuracies found in seat belt reports may spur another recall.
Remember Takata? If you don't know who they are by now, you may have an open airbag recall you need to get taken care of as soon as you can. Takata, which infamously went bankrupt after its defective airbag inflators spurred the largest automotive safety recall of all time, also had some inaccuracies in its seat belt webbing test data reports, per Reuters.
Automotive supplier Joyson Safety Systems (JSS) purchased much of Takata's assets after Takata went bankrupt. The issues they found were in reports from the Hikone, Japan, factory that JSS purchased from Takata in April 2018. The inaccurate reports were (surprise, surprise!) from when Takata operated the factory—before JSS purchased it.
“JSS is currently reviewing available and relevant data over a 20-year period on a test-by-test and product-by-product basis,” said JSS Global Communications Director Bryan Johnson in a statement, as quoted by Reuters.
The Japanese transport ministry has already told automakers to prepare for a recall of the Takata seat belts involved, Reuters reports. They also asked JSS's Japanese unit to submit an investigation report. The ministry is still investigating how many cars have the seat belts and if any were shipped outside of Japan. A recall could potentially affect a lot of cars, though, as JSS accounts for 40% of the seat belt market in Japan and 30% worldwide.
If inaccurate Takata data feels like deja vu, well, that's because it is. Takata sold its defective airbag inflators to automakers using false inflator test results. Takata's airbags inflated with excessive force, breaking up components and blasting deadly shrapnel at passengers. The company pled guilty in 2017 to criminal charges related to its airbags.
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