BMW, Ford, Nissan Sue Takata for Fraud in Airbag Scandal

BMW, Ford and Nissan have filed U.S. lawsuits that demand compensation from Takata Corp. for the cost of recalling the supplier’s explosion-prone airbag inflators.

The complaints, which were filed in U.S. District Court in Miami, say Takata knew about defects but hid them from its carmaker customers. The companies say they would have either demanded that Takata fix the problems or purchased airbags elsewhere if they have been given “true and accurate test data,” Bloomberg News reports.

Takata airbag inflators produced until recently are prone to deterioration after exposure to hot and humid conditions. The devices may then explode when triggered in a crash, spewing metal shards into the passenger compartment. Takata inflators are linked to at least 11 fatalities and more than 100 injuries in the U.S.

The three carmaker lawsuits have been combined with complaints filed earlier this month by lawyers representing affected car owners and victims of exploding Takata airbag inflators. The earlier filing also claims Takata knew about deadly defects for years before recalls began.

The lawsuits come as Takata nears a financial bailout deal with Key Safety Systems Inc., the U.S. airbag company acquired last summer by China’s Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp. One unresolved issue in Takata’s restructuring plan is the company’s obligation to pay a portion of the cost of recalling roughly 100 million inflators that so far has been shouldered by 19 carmakers.