Takata Settles Airbag Inflator Probe by 44 U.S. States

Bankrupt supplier Takata Corp. has agreed to pay $650 million to settle civil claims by 44 state attorneys general that the company deceived consumers about its explosion-prone airbag inflators.

But the attorney generals have agreed not to demand the money so as to maximize funds available to pay to victims of the devices. Takata inflators, which spew shrapnel into a vehicle’s passenger compartment when triggered by a crash, have been blamed for 22 fatalities and roughly 200 major injuries worldwide.

At least 125 million of the faulty devices—half of them in the U.S.—are being replaced by 19 carmakers in a long-running series of sequenced recalls. A year ago Takata pleaded guilty to a felony charge by the U.S. Dept. of Justice for hiding defects in the inflators and agreed to pay $1 billion in compensation to carmakers and victims.

Takata and it U.S. unit, TK Holdings Inc., filed for bankruptcy last June. Settling the state-level civil complaints helps to enable the sale of Takata’s non-airbag operations to Michigan-based Key Safety Systems Inc. Key is a unit of China’s Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp.