As pressure builds on a company reeling from the auto industry's biggest recall, Takata Corp is preparing the ground for the exit of its chief executive reported Reuters.
The company has been tormented by a problem that has ballooned into a damaging safety scandal affecting nearly 50 million vehicles – the defective air bags that can explode with excessive force and shoot shrapnel inside the car.
An 11th death could be linked to a faulty air bag the company recently said.
"There are plans for management reforms," said a source. This would involve laying the groundwork for the departure of chairman and CEO Shigehisa Takada, the bookish grandson of the group's founder, and other executives.
Reuters reported that as part of its business plans at a meeting with automakers on Friday, the reforms would be presented by Takata. There were however no reports about who is in line to replace Takada as the head of the 83-year-old firm or when Takada might step down.
There was no official comment from the company spokesperson.
After the publishing of a report by Germany-based Fraunhofer Institute on its investigation into the causes of air bag inflator failures could create more pressures for Takata.
There have been reports in the Japanese media that the findings which were commissioned by Takata, are due in the coming weeks.
The air bag explosions appeared to result from damaged or improperly assembled inflators, partial results of its inquiry released last June showed.
And it becomes a cause for particular concern in humid regions when ammonium nitrate, the chemical compound used to inflate the air bag, came into contact with moisture.
The root causes of the air bag failures was still unclear according to Takata
It could leave the company with a recall bill already estimated at more than $3 billion if the final report finds Takata liable for defective air bags.
The financial lifelines to Takata could be cut off by automakers, including Honda Motor and Toyota Motor, which have to date been paying for replacement air bags.
Honda is part of a consortium of automakers to commission Orbital ATK to test Takata air bag inflators and has also separately hired U.S.-based engineering consultancy Exponent to investigate the cause of the air bag ruptures.
Automakers have accused Takata of mishandling and manipulating safety data even as Takada has been widely criticized for keeping a low profile even as the air bag crisis escalated.
Takada apologized for the defective air bag inflators, saying that staying on to lead the company was the appropriate way for him to take responsibility, in his first media appearance in June 2015, more than a year after the recall crisis erupted.
Sources said that the first step towards the departure of Takada could be initiated when he would reportedly take responsibility for "a range of issues" around the air bag crisis at meeting with automakers.
Takada, 49, has been CEO since 2013 and he had joined the family business straight from university in 1988. If Takada does finally steps down, it would be the highest level departure at Takata in a scandal that dates back as far as 2008.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
The company has been tormented by a problem that has ballooned into a damaging safety scandal affecting nearly 50 million vehicles – the defective air bags that can explode with excessive force and shoot shrapnel inside the car.
An 11th death could be linked to a faulty air bag the company recently said.
"There are plans for management reforms," said a source. This would involve laying the groundwork for the departure of chairman and CEO Shigehisa Takada, the bookish grandson of the group's founder, and other executives.
Reuters reported that as part of its business plans at a meeting with automakers on Friday, the reforms would be presented by Takata. There were however no reports about who is in line to replace Takada as the head of the 83-year-old firm or when Takada might step down.
There was no official comment from the company spokesperson.
After the publishing of a report by Germany-based Fraunhofer Institute on its investigation into the causes of air bag inflator failures could create more pressures for Takata.
There have been reports in the Japanese media that the findings which were commissioned by Takata, are due in the coming weeks.
The air bag explosions appeared to result from damaged or improperly assembled inflators, partial results of its inquiry released last June showed.
And it becomes a cause for particular concern in humid regions when ammonium nitrate, the chemical compound used to inflate the air bag, came into contact with moisture.
The root causes of the air bag failures was still unclear according to Takata
It could leave the company with a recall bill already estimated at more than $3 billion if the final report finds Takata liable for defective air bags.
The financial lifelines to Takata could be cut off by automakers, including Honda Motor and Toyota Motor, which have to date been paying for replacement air bags.
Honda is part of a consortium of automakers to commission Orbital ATK to test Takata air bag inflators and has also separately hired U.S.-based engineering consultancy Exponent to investigate the cause of the air bag ruptures.
Automakers have accused Takata of mishandling and manipulating safety data even as Takada has been widely criticized for keeping a low profile even as the air bag crisis escalated.
Takada apologized for the defective air bag inflators, saying that staying on to lead the company was the appropriate way for him to take responsibility, in his first media appearance in June 2015, more than a year after the recall crisis erupted.
Sources said that the first step towards the departure of Takada could be initiated when he would reportedly take responsibility for "a range of issues" around the air bag crisis at meeting with automakers.
Takada, 49, has been CEO since 2013 and he had joined the family business straight from university in 1988. If Takada does finally steps down, it would be the highest level departure at Takata in a scandal that dates back as far as 2008.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
