Honda Offers Financial Aid to U.S. Dealers for Takata Recalls

Honda Motor Co. tells U.S. dealers it will provide them with financial aid to offset disruptions to sales caused by the company’s widening recall of Takata Corp. defective airbag inflators, Automotive News reports.

The plan is scheduled to begin in about three weeks and will end on July 29, according to the newspaper.

Honda is telling its Acura and Honda brand dealers they will be compensated for the depreciation and inventory costs on new cars they cannot sell until the explosion-prone inflators are replaced. The problem prompted the company in January to issue a stop-sale order covering 1.7 million new and used vehicles built during the 2007-2015 models years.

Takata inflators have been blamed for 10 fatalities worldwide, nine of them involving Honda vehicles. A dozen carmakers, including Honda, have so far called back some 50 million Takata inflators, including more than 29 million in the U.S.

The overall size of the Takata recalls has strained the airbag industry’s ability to produce substitute inflators. Honda told its U.S. dealers last week they aren’t likely to see replacement devices until summer.