Toyota Tops Takata Creditor List

Toyota is the largest creditor facing bankrupt airbag maker Takata Corp., followed by Honda, Mazda and the U.S. government.

Creditor claims filed with the Tokyo District Court total slightly more than 1 trillion yen ($9.3 billion), excluding bondholder claims, according to a tally compiled by The Nikkei (left).

But the actual total for claims is certain to rise. Reuters estimated earlier this week that the claims will come to 3.8 trillion yen ($33 billion).

The Nikkei points out that court filings in Japan don’t include claims by international creditors or victims of the company’s exploding airbag inflators. The devices have been blamed for at least 16 fatalities worldwide—all but one occurring in Honda-brand vehicles.

The newspaper’s list shows Toyota as Takata’s largest creditor with a claim of 331 billion yen ($2.9 billion). Other top-ranking creditors are Honda at 240 billion yen ($2.1 billion), Mazda at 131 billion yen ($1.2 billion), the U.S. government at 96 billion yen ($850 million) and Nissan at 76 billion yen ($670 million).

The U.S. claim is part of a fine of $1 billion Takata agreed in January to pay to settle criminal charges that the company falsified test reports about the defective inflators.

The U.S. agreement requires Takata to distribute $850 million among 19 carmakers that have been replacing an estimated 90 million of the defective devices in the U.S.