Business

The Takata recalls for faulty airbags keep coming

Following Wednesday's massive recall, Honda and Daihatsu said they would recall more than 5 million cars to replace the potentially fatal air bag inflators made by Takata, bringing the total amount of vehicles called back since 2008 to 36 million. Toyota and Nissan have said they would take back some 6.5 million vehicles after investigations showed the inflators were not properly sealed and could be damaged by moisture.

TIMELINE-Takata air bag recalls

Following are some key events in the cumulative global recall by more than 10 automakers since 2008 of more than 31 million cars fitted with potentially defective airbags made by Japanese firm Takata Corp.

2008:

Nov 4 - Honda Motor recalls 4,000 Accords and Civics (2001 models) globally as Takata airbag inflators may produce excessive internal pressure causing them to rupture and spray metal fragments in the car.

2009:

May 27 - Oklahoma teen Ashley Parham dies when the airbag in her 2001 Honda Accord explodes, shooting metal fragments into her neck. Honda and Takata deny fault and settle for an undisclosed sum.

Dec 24 - Gurjit Rathore is killed in Virginia when the airbag in a 2001 Accord explodes after a minor accident, severing arteries in her neck, court documents show. Her family sues Honda and Takata for more than US$ 75 million in April 2011, claiming they knew of the airbag problems as early as 2004. Honda and Takata settle in January 2013 for US$ 3 million, according to court documents.

2010:

Feb 9 - Honda expands earlier recalls

2011:

April 27 - Honda recalls 896,000 Honda and Acura 2001-03 cars in order to find defective Takata airbag inflators installed as replacement parts.

Dec 1 - Honda again expands recalls.

2013:

April 11 - Toyota Motor, Honda, Nissan Motor and Mazda Motor recall 3.4 million vehicles globally due to possibly defective Takata airbags.

April 18 - Takata says to book extraordinary loss of US$ 307 million for year to March 2013 for recall-related costs.

May 7 - BMW joins recalls.

May 10 - Takata posts record US$ 212.5 million annual net loss, and names Swiss national Stefan Stocker as president, the first foreigner in the post.

Sept 3 - Devin Xu dies in a 2002 Acura TL sedan in a parking lot accident near Los Angeles from "apparent facial trauma due to foreign object inside airbag" - coroner's report.

2014:

June 11 - Toyota expands prior recall to 2.27 million vehicles globally; U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opens probe, examining whether driving in high humidity regions contributes to the risk of Takata airbag explosions; Takata says there is nothing to indicate any inflator safety defects.

June 23 - Honda, Nissan and Mazda recall 2.95 million vehicles, expanding April 2013 recall, bringing the total recall to about 10.5 million vehicles over five years.

June 26 - Takata CEO apologises to shareholders at AGM.

July 16 - BMW recalls about 1.6 million cars worldwide.

July 18 - Takata says to book special loss of about 45 billion yen (US$ 440 million) in April-June for recalls.

Oct 2 - Orlando woman Hien Thi Tran dies four days after her 2001 Accord is in an accident in which the airbag explodes, shooting out shrapnel - police report.

Oct 21 - Takata shares drop 23% in Tokyo.

Oct 22 - NHTSA expands total number of U.S. vehicles recalled for Takata airbags to 7.8 million over past 18 months.

Oct 27 - A first case seeking class-action status is filed in Florida, claiming Takata and automakers, including Honda and Toyota, concealed crucial information on airbags.

Nov 6 - Takata warns of bigger full-year loss, and pays no interim dividend for first time since 2006.

Nov 7 - New York Times reports Takata ordered technicians to destroy results of tests on some airbags after finding cracks in inflators. Democratic lawmakers call for criminal probe into Takata.

Nov 10 - Takata shares drop 17% to 5-1/2 year low.

Nov 13 - Honda says a woman - later identified as Law Suk Leh, 43 - died in Malaysia in July after being hit by shrapnel from a Takata airbag in her Honda City - the first such fatality outside the U.S.; Takata says it has modified the composition of its airbag propellant; Honda widens recalls; taking its total alone to nearly 10 million.

Nov 20 - U.S. Senate hearing into Takata airbag crisis.

Dec 4 - At U.S. Senate hearing, Takata says unable yet to find 'root cause' of airbag ruptures.

Dec 11 - Honda, Nissan add to recalls in Japan.

Dec 16 - Honda recalls around 570,000 cars in China over Takata airbags

Dec 17 - Mark Rosekind confirmed as new head of NHTSA.

Dec 24 - Stocker steps down as Takata president.

2015:

Jan 29 - Honda says 35-year-old Carlos Solis was killed in Houston in a 2002 Accord fitted with a Takata airbag that may have ruptured.

Feb 11 - Takata says to double output of replacement airbag inflators by September.

Feb 20 - U.S. regulators impose daily fine of US$ 14,000 on Takata for failing to fully cooperate with airbag probe.

March 23 - Honda hires U.S. engineering consultancy Exponent to investigate Takata airbag faults.

May 8 - Takata says expects to return to profit in 2015-16.

May 13 - Toyota says to recall 5 million cars globally, including Corolla and Vitz models from 2003-07; Nissan to recall 1.56 million cars, taking overall global recalls to more than 31 million in eight years.