Takata has finally pleaded guilty to deceiving automakers about the safety of its airbags. This week’s guilty plea by Takata in federal court, as well as the new accusations against automakers in a separate lawsuit, show that legal proceedings in the airbag scandal continue to move forward.
Takata agrees to pay $1 billion to settle criminal charges over its defective airbags.
To date, more than 13 million airbags have been replaced, according to the latest update from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That is only a small portion of the approximately 65 million to 70 million Takata airbags that have been installed in 42 million cars.
Takata agreed to plead guilty and pay $1 billion in penalties to settle criminal charges that it knowingly sold millions of defective airbags to automakers, causing deaths and serious injuries.
The gas used to inflate the Takata airbags was cheaper than what other airbag makers used, but it was also much more unstable and caused numerous explosions that sent shards of metal at the victims.