Takata Corporation ( ??????? , Takata Kabushiki Gaisha ) is an automotive parts company based in Japan. The company has production facilities on four continents, with its European headquarters located in Germany, where it also has nine production facilities. In 2013, a series of deaths and injuries related to Takata's damaged airbag inflators have caused Takata to initially recall 3.6 million cars equipped with the airbag. Further deaths caused by airbags have led to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to order an ongoing withdrawal and nationwide more than 42 million cars, the largest automotive withdrawal in US history. In June 2017, Takata filed for bankruptcy. It was acquired by Key Safety Systems.
Video Takata Corporation
History
Takata was founded in 1933 in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, by Takezo Takada and began to produce lifelines for parachutes, and other textiles. In the early 1950s, the company began researching seat belts. Then they are entered as "Takata". In the 1960s, Takata began selling seat belts and built the first crash test factory in Japan to test seatbelts under real-world conditions.
In the 1970s, Takata developed a child control system. In the 1980s, the company changed its name to "Takata Corporation" and extended it to Korea, USA, and then to Ireland, to sell seat belts. In the 1990s, Takata expanded internationally.
In 2000, Takata Corporation acquired German competitor Petri AG, forming the European subsidiary of Takata-Petri, renamed Takata AG in early 2012. Takata AG makes steering wheels and plastic components, not just for the automotive industry.
Maps Takata Corporation
Call back
retention of seatbelts 1995
In May 1995, withdrawals in the US affecting 8,428,402 Japanese-made vehicles manufactured from 1986 to 1991 with seat belts produced by Takata Corporation Japan, began. It was called at the time of "second largest recall in 30 years of Department of Transportation (DOT) history". The recall was requested by an investigation (PE94-052) conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on a Honda Takata-equipped vehicle, after many of their owners complained the buckle seat belts either failed to lock, stick and release automatically, or release in an accident. It reveals that the potentially damaged Takata safety belt is not limited only to Honda vehicles, but also to other Japanese imports.
NHTSA opened a second investigation on Takata's broader seat belt (EA94-036) as well as individual investigations on vehicle manufacturers using Takata's seatbelts to determine the magnitude of the defect. The second investigation is limited to the front seat belt buckles and especially the Takata 52X and A7X models. It establishes that a total of 11 producers are affected by the investigation.
Japanese models sold in the United States by American Honda Motor Co., Isuzu Motors of America Inc., Mazda Motor of America Inc., Nissan North America, Daihatsu Motor Co. America, Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America Inc. and Subaru of America Inc. also affect the seat belt buckle.
In addition, Chrysler, General Motors and Ford all have various models manufactured by Japanese companies with buckle belts in question, but are sold under the American name such as the Dodge Stealth and Geo series (except Prizm) under General Motors.
Ford has vehicles like the Probe produced by Mazda on the Kia MX-6 platform and Festiva made in South Korea, but engineered by Mazda which also has seat belts. However, unlike Chrysler and General Motors, Ford does not recognize that their seat belts can be damaged.
Initially, some Japanese manufacturers suspect that seatbelt failure is a result of user misuse, not design failure; However, a nine-month investigation by NHTSA concluded that the cause of the defect is that the buckle is made of ABS plastic. Through exposure to ultraviolet light over a period of time, the plastic becomes brittle and pieces fall, causing disruption of the release button mechanism.
The producers involved agree to a voluntary withdrawal, although this does not go smoothly. Only 18% of the 8.9 million cars and trucks with the Takata belt buckle were repaired two years after the recall began. In addition, NHTSA assessed a $ 50,000 civil penalty against Honda and Takata for failing to notify the agency of seat belt defects at the right time. Honda fined because NHTSA believes that the company knew about the dangers of at least five years before withdrawal, but never reported problems to NHTSA, or offered to do a voluntary recall.
Faulty airbag gap (2013-present)
Takata started making airbags in 1988 and, by 2014, controlled 20 percent of the market. During 2013, several automakers started a massive recall of vehicles due to the artificial Takata airbags. The report states that the problem may have started a decade earlier.
Honda said they knew more than 100 injuries and thirteen deaths (seven in the United States plus six in Malaysia) associated with the Takata airbag.
In April and May 2013, a total of 3.6 million cars were withdrawn due to damaged Takata airbags. All airbags are manufactured at, or used inflator units manufactured by, Takata's Monclova Plant in Coahuila, Mexico, operated by Takata's subsidiary of North America/Mexico, TK Holdings Inc. In November 2014, BMW announced they would move any order from the Mexican factory to the Takata factory in Germany.
In June 2014, Takata acknowledged that their Mexican subsidiary had mismanaged the manufacture of explosives and chemicals that were stored incorrectly used in air bags. Identifying a vehicle with a defective air bag becomes more difficult due to the failure of TK Holdings Inc. to keep proper quality control records. That prompted another round of withdrawals in June 2013.
In their statement the company said, "We take this situation seriously, will strengthen our quality control and make a concerted effort to prevent a recurrence".
On June 23, 2014, car manufacturers BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, and Toyota announced that they attracted more than three million vehicles worldwide due to Takata Corporation's artificial airbags. The reason is they can break and send debris flying in the vehicle. This is a response to the US National Highway Traffic Safety (NHTSA) investigation that began after NHTSA received three complaints of injury.
In a statement on June 23, 2014, Takata said they thought the excessive moisture was the cause of the defect. Haruo Otani, an official at the vehicle withdrawal from Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, said that moisture and humidity can seep into inflators, destabilizing the volatile propellant inside.
In July 2014, a pregnant Malaysian woman was killed in a collision involving her Honda Civic 2003 which contained a broken airbag. The woman, aged 42, died when a metal fragment from a ruptured driver's airbag broke her neck in an accident where she was driving about 30 km/h when another vehicle hit her at the intersection, according to the lawsuit filed by her. father in Miami federal court. Her daughter, who was born after the death of the mother, died three days later.
On November 18, 2014, NHTSA ordered Takata to initiate a national airbag recall. The move came as 10 US carmakers drew hundreds of thousands of cars equipped with potentially damaged airbags manufactured by Takata.
On May 19, 2015, Takata is now responsible for the largest automatic withdrawal in history. Takata has attracted 40 million vehicles in 12 vehicle brands for "explosive airbags and the potential to send shrapnel to the face and body of the driver and front seat passengers". This withdrawal will bring the figure to about 53 million cars that qualify for this withdrawal. In November 2015, Takata was fined $ 200 million ($ 70 million prepaid) by a US federal regulator in response to Takata acknowledging the error. Toyota, Mazda and Honda say they will not use ammonium nitrate-based inflators.
On May 4, 2016, NHTSA announced the recall of an additional campaign of 35-40 million inflators, adding 288 million inflators previously withdrawn.
On August 22, 2016, a truck carrying parts of Takata's airbag was involved in an accident in Quemado, Texas that caused the cargo to explode, destroyed the house and killed a woman inside.
On January 13, 2017, the United States assigned three executives Takata, Shinichi Tanaka, Hideo Nakajima, and Tsueno Chikaraishi to Takata's airbags that exploded. The company agreed to plead guilty and pay $ 1 billion to complete the investigation, which included a $ 25 million fine, $ 125 million for victim compensation and $ 850 million to compensate the car manufacturer. At least 16 deaths are associated with defective air sacs.
On February 28, 2018 the Federal Government of Australia announced the mandatory withdrawal from all cars equipped with Takata airbags. "Approximately 2.3 million vehicles will be subject to mandatory withdrawals and airbags must be replaced within two years."
On March 1, 2018, it was announced that 106,806 models of Volkswagen, including Golf, Passat, Polo, CC Eos and Up! has been pulled back because it contains a damaged Takata airbag.
On March 2, 2018, Holden announced that the withdrawal of the airbag now includes 330,000 of their Australian vehicles, although initially lacking their cars in the mandatory list of federal government.
On April 4, 2018, the New Zealand government, having decided "they represent the highest security risks for drivers and passengers," announced a mandatory withdrawal of 50,000 vehicles equipped with Takata Alpha-type airbags. This mandatory reminder is said to be only the second in New Zealand history and the largest vehicle withdrawal of its kind. Ministry of Commerce and Consumer Affairs stated that it will also block the import of vehicles whose pockets are not replaced.
Affected car
In 2014, NHTSA received notice from BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, and Toyota that they made a limited withdrawal area to address possible security flaws involving Takata brand inflators air bags.
In May 2014, General Motors expanded its previous withdrawal from the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze sedan and other models due to an electrical problem with the Takata airbag. Recalls also include Buick Verano, Chevrolet Sonic and Chevrolet Camaro.
On June 25, 2014, General Motors told their North American dealers to stop selling their 2013 and 2014 Chevrolet Cruze sedan models. GM states, "Certain vehicles may be equipped with a suspension driver's air bag inflator module that may have been assembled with the wrong parts." The airbag involved is made by Takata Corporation. On June 11, 2014, Toyota attracted 2.3 million vehicles, much for the second time.
On July 17, 2015, Ferrari issued a withdrawal for their lineup of 2014-15 year models because the driver's airbags were not installed properly and the skin covering them was glued incorrectly. This was discovered when the company tested 458 Italians and the airbag would be installed in a rotated orientation, potentially causing injury.
Takata claims that the problem itself is only shown to affect vehicles in hot and humid locations. However, all potentially affected vehicles have been withdrawn as a precaution. No evidence of problems has been seen in the UK and Europe.
Nearly all reported injuries (fatal and minor) have been recorded in Honda vehicles, something that is being investigated. Ford added certain models to the list after the 10th death occurred when the airbag in the 2006 Ford Ranger pickup driven by a Georgian man broke out violently in South Carolina, at the end of December 2015.
On December 9, 2016, car manufacturers affected by this recall include Acura, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Daimler Trucks North America, Daimler Vans USA LLC, Dodge/Ram, Ferrari, Fisker, Ford, GMC, Honda, Infiniti, Jaguar, Jeep, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, McLaren, Mercedes-Benz, Mercury, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Scion, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, and Volkswagen.
Bankruptcy
On June 25, 2017, Takata filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States and filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan, as more compensation than was possible for its survival. The surviving assets will be sold to competitors, the Key Safety Systems based in China and the United States (Michigan), at a price of about 1.6 billion US dollars. On April 11, 2018, upon completion of the acquisition of the Takata Security System of Key, the company announced that the company would be renamed the Joyson Safety System, and continues to operate in Michigan as the Primary Safety System.
See also
- List of Japanese companies
- Ammonium nitrate (used by Takata as airbag propellant from the late 1990s as a cheaper (but less stable) alternative to Tetrazole)
- Sodium azide (a very stable stable long airbag propellant gradually released by Takata in the 1990s that supports potentially toxic Tetrazole)
Note
References
External links
- List of affected vehicles in recall airbags in the US (Department of Transportation)
- takata.com Site Takata Corporation (in English)
- Bernstein, Joanna Zuckerman; Klayman, Ben (November 20, 2014). "Special Report: Plant with a troubled past in the center of the Takata air bag probe". Reuters. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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