US judge permits Takata case
Class action allowed over faulty car airbags
NEW YORK: A US judge has rejected a bid by airbag manufacturer Takata Corp and car maker Honda Motor Co to toss out a class-action lawsuit on behalf of millions of owners with potentially faulty airbag inflators, even as the firms are moving to quickly settle death claims.
The Japanese companies have agreed to undisclosed settlements for six of eight deaths linked to ruptured inflators as US prosecutors ramp up a probe of the ruptures and whether regulators were misled. Four settlements have been reached in recent months.
Litigation arising from four of the six US deaths has been settled, Honda spokesman Chris Martin said. Court records show a fifth US death, in September 2014 in California, has also been settled.
“Honda has worked in good faith to quickly resolve the concerns of those families,” Mr Martin said.
Honda, Takata and other automakers will continue to face a class-action suit filed on behalf of millions of owners that alleges Takata and the car firms violated anti-racketeering laws because of a ruling by US District Judge Federico Moreno in Miami.
Since 2008, at least 19.2 million US vehicles have been recalled for inflators that can rupture. The suit claims millions of car owners overpaid for vehicles with faulty airbags and the recalls reduced the value of those vehicles.
“Honda looks forward to the opportunity to properly challenge plaintiffs’ claims,” Mr Martin said, adding that the firm is confident that the racketeering claim will be dismissed.
The previously unreported civil settlements cover five airbag deaths in the US, including two reported inflator deaths this year in Texas and Louisiana, and a 2014 incident in Malaysia in which a pregnant woman was killed and her baby subsequently died.
US prosecutors have conducted interviews with Takata and Honda employees in both Japan and the United States, according to sources.
Mr Martin declined to say if executives have been interviewed but said “Honda is actively cooperating with the DOJ investigation of Takata”.
A federal grand jury has subpoenaed documents from Takata, but Honda said it has not received a grand jury subpoena.
Honda has confirmed seven airbag deaths since 2009. An inflator is also suspected in the 2013 death of a California man in a 2002 Acura TL.
Japan has banned certain Takata airbag inflators from future cars and set timeframes for the components to be phased out from existing models, taking measures nearly identical to a US regulator’s order one month ago. Car makers will not be allowed to use inflators with ammonium nitrate propellant.