Takata Airbag Recall: US Justice Department May Settle Criminal Probe Over Exploding Inflators Early Next Year, Reports Say

Japan’s Takata Corp. may be close to reaching a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over its controversy-stricken airbag recalls, according to reports Wednesday.

The airbag manufacturer is expected to pay between hundreds of millions of dollars to $1 billion to resolve allegations of criminal wrongdoing in the company’s handling of its potentially deadly airbags, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.

Reuters quoted sources saying that Takata is expected to settle criminal charges with the Department of Justice ahead of Inauguration Day, before the Obama administration leaves office in January. Government agencies are looking to wrap up ongoing corporate investigations, possibly because of uncertainty over President-elect Donald Trump’s approach to open cases.

Takata’s airbag inflators contain ammonium nitrate that when exposed to moisture and high temperatures can deteriorate over time. The defective airbags lack the chemical drying agent that prevents this damage. Excessive internal pressure in the defective airbags can cause the inflators to burst, causing metal fragments from inside to puncture the airbag. The resulting spray of metal pieces may lead to injury or death.

Over the past year, Takata has issued massive recall orders across the world because of its defective inflators that have caused 11 deaths in the U.S. and injured at least 184 people in the country. Automakers so far have recalled 29 million vehicles in the U.S. with 46 million Takata airbags, while almost 100 million vehicles have been recalled across the globe. As of Dec. 2, almost 12.5 million airbags had been fixed, the Journal reported.

Reports say that as a part of the settlement, Takata will plead guilty to criminal misconduct after the Justice Department investigates whether the company hid information from safety regulators and issued misleading statements about its exploding airbags. The deal will also include a monitor to ensure Takata's compliance with the agreement.

Both Takata and the Department of Justice declined to comment, according to Reuters.