Takata Finalizes 7-Member Panel to Find Production Failures

Takata Corp. has named a seven-member team to closely review its manufacturing procedures and identify the causes of airbag inflator explosions that have prompted some 24 million vehicle recalls in six years by 10 carmakers.

The panel will be led by Samuel Skinner, former secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation. The group's two business executives are Nelda Connors, formerly from Ford and Eaton, and John Landgraf with Abbott Laboratories.

They are joined by an academic Northwestern University engineering Dean Julio Ottino and three ex-government officials: former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury John Snow and former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chiefs Marion Blakey and Jeffrey Runge.

Skinner says the group intends to conclude its work in a matter of months. Its primary goal will be to identify the root defect that can cause an inflator to explode when triggered. The Takata devices have been linked to five fatalities.