Effects of Takata Bankruptcy to Extend Far and Wide<br />By JONATHAN SOBLEJUNE 26, 2017<br />TOKYO — Takata, the airbag manufacturer at the center of the world’s largest auto safety recall, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States on Sunday<br />and said it was selling its surviving operations to a rival supplier.<br />Key Safety Systems, which is owned by a company in China, Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corporation, has sought<br />to wall itself off from Takata’s legal problems by buying Takata’s assets, but not the company itself.<br />In its bankruptcy filing in the United States, Takata projected its liabilities at $10 billion to $50 billion,<br />vastly more than it will have to give even after the infusion of cash from Key Safety Systems.<br />Takata said on Monday that it remained committed to a promise it made to the United States government to pay $125 million in compensation to victims.<br />Carmakers say they are committed to finishing the job, and Takata said on Monday<br />that it would continue to manufacture replacement airbag inflaters until the process is finished, something it expects will happen by 2020.<br />The huge range is because of major uncertainties: The recalls are only partially completed,<br />and no one yet knows how much they will ultimately cost or how much victims might be awarded in lawsuits.<br />Honda, Takata’s largest customer, summed it up on Monday when it warned shareholders<br />that it would "become difficult to recover the majority of the claims" that the automaker holds against Takata, including costs of the recalls.
