Top Takata Execs in U.S. Have Left the Company

Three senior executives at TK Holdings Inc., the U.S. arm of struggling airbag supplier Takata Corp., have left the company, Automotive News reports.

Takata didn’t announce the sudden departures and has declined to comment on why they left. The three men are:

• Kevin Kennedy, former president
• Robert Fisher, former executive vice president
• Eric Laptook, general counsel and chief safety and compliance officer

AN notes that the LinkedIn accounts for all three executives indicate they left Takata in January. A secretary who answered Laptook’s phone told the newspaper he was no longer with the company.

In January Takata pleaded guilty in the U.S. to covering up defects in airbag inflators, some 100 million of which are being recalled by 19 vehicle manufacturers worldwide. The explosion-prone devices have been blamed for 16 fatalities and more than 100 injuries worldwide.

Takata faces an estimated $10 billion in liabilities for the inflators and is shopping for a financial savior. Reports late last year speculated that the company might attempt to define and limit its exposure by allowing TK Holdings to go through a U.S. bankruptcy.