Air bag maker agrees to settle

Japanese air bag maker Takata Corp. has reached a $650-million deal to settle consumer protection claims from 44 states and Washington, D.C., but only a fraction of the money will be paid because of Takata’s financial problems and bankruptcy.

In an agreement announced Thursday, the states said they would not collect the settlement so victims of Takata’s faulty air bag inf lators can get a bigger piece of the company’s remaining money. The exception: South Carolina, which led the states, will get just over $139,000 to cover costs of the investigation.

Takata air bag inflators can explode with too much force and spew shrapnel into drivers and passengers. At least 22 people have died worldwide, and more than 180 have been hurt.

Attorneys general for the states alleged that Takata concealed air bag issues and failed to disclose safety defects.

Takata was forced into bankruptcy last year amid lawsuits, multimillion-dollar fines and crushing recall costs involving air bag inflators that use the explosive chemical ammonium nitrate as a propellant. The chemical can deteriorate over time when exposed to high heat and humidity and then burn too fast, blowing apart a metal canister.

A reorganization plan was approved last week by a federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware.

A Takata spokesman did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

As part of a criminal plea agreement with the Justice Department, Takata agreed to pay victims $125 million and to pay $850 million in restitution to automakers that bought its inflators and are stuck with recall and litigation costs. Under the restructuring plan, Takata will sell most of its non-air bag assets to a Chinese-owned rival for $1.6 billion.

The inf lator problem touched off the largest automotive recall in U.S. history. As many as 69 million inflators in the U.S. and an additional 60 million worldwide are being recalled, according to court documents and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.