Takata Air Bag Recall: Company Could Take Up To $28M Charge To Cover Cost Of Additional Recalls

Takata, a Japanese manufacturer and supplier of automotive safety components, could book a quarterly charge of up to three billion yen ($28 million) to cover the cost of additional recalls of vehicles that may have been fitted with defective air bags made by the company, a report said Monday. The air bags have so far reportedly triggered recalls of about eight million vehicles in the U.S.

The charge will be in addition to a previous estimate of 75 billion yen and is expected to cover the projected cost of recent recalls by companies such as Nissan Motor, Honda Motor and Toyota Motor, Reuters reported, citing two sources. The additional charge could be booked in Takata’s results for the first half of the current fiscal year ending March 2015.

According to Reuters, the additional charge could be part of a broader estimate for a global recall, which began in 2008, and has so far included more than 16 million vehicles. The faulty air bags have reportedly been known to explode under force and spray shrapnel at occupants, a problem that has reportedly caused four deaths and several injuries in the U.S.

The latest development in the Takata air bag recall follows last week’s announcement by Nissan that it would recall 260,000 vehicles with defective air bags globally. Toyota also announced earlier this month that it was recalling 247,000 cars to repair Takata air bags in its cars. In August, Honda said that it was recalling about 63,200 vehicles.

An official in the United States Congress said last week that a committee would hold an initial briefing with U.S. safety regulators this week to learn the details of the regional recalls, which have affected 10 automakers, including Toyota, Honda, Mazda, BMW, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford and General Motors.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., also called for an overhaul of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, on ABC’s “This Week” program on Saturday.

“There needs to be a real overhaul of the National Highway Transit Safety agency," Blumenthal said on the show. “These exploding airbags can be killers… They literally have killed people.”