Japan's Takata agrees to pay $1 bn in airbag scandal with U.S.

PanARMENIAN.Net - Japan's Takata Corporation, one of the world's biggest suppliers of auto safety equipment, agreed to plead guilty to fraud and pay $1 billion to settle its faulty airbag scandal, U.S. officials announced Friday, January 13, AFP reports.

The United States also has indicted three former Takata executives in the case, bringing the first criminal charges in a scandal over exploding airbags that caused the largest U.S. auto safety recall.

The individuals, who left the company in 2015, were charged with fraud for hiding the flaws in the airbags, so far blamed for 16 deaths and 100 injuries worldwide, according to documents filed in federal court in Michigan and made public on Friday.

Coming just days after the U.S. charged six Volkswagen executives in that company's "dieselgate" emissions-cheating scandal, the Takata settlement accelerates the pace of corporate prosecutions in the final days of President Barack Obama's administration.

Takata CEO Shigehisa Takada said his company had taken "aggressive action" to remedy the situation.

"Takata deeply regrets the circumstances that have led to this situation and remains fully committed to being part of the solution," he said in a statement.

The company has been ensnared since 2013 in a scandal over airbags blamed for exploding with deadly force, sending metal shards into passenger compartments.

Most major auto manufacturers have been forced to recall vehicles because of the defect, including General Motors, Honda, BMW and Tesla, in what has been described as the largest-ever auto safety recall.

Under the terms of the agreement with the US Justice Department, which has yet to be approved by a judge, Takata will pay a $25 million fine, establish a $125 million fund to compensate victims and pay $850 million in restitution to affected automakers.