U.S. Law Suit Alleges Car Makers Knew About Takata Airbag Fault

The New York Times is reporting Toyota, Ford, Nissan and Honda knew about the Takata airbag fault for years but kept installing them into new vehicles.

The claims were made in a new class action law suit filed in Florida on Monday.

Honda has already strenuously denied the new allegations, releasing a statement which said: “Honda reasonably believed, based on extensive test results provided by Takata, that they were safe.”

It’s explosive news as so far the U.S. Federal Justice Department’s criminal investigation – linked to 11 fatalities and 100 injuries in North America – is based on the premise that Takata manipulated safety data to conceal the defect from their customers, the vehicle manufacturers.

According to the New York Times, this new suit points to vehicle manufacturers pressuring Takata and other suppliers to cut costs. Although Honda denied this claim saying sometimes Takata airbags were actually more expensive than those manufactured by other companies.

The Florida filing came hours before Takata pleaded guilty in the Justice Department’s case moving prosecutors to fine three executive for fabricating the test data and fining Takata $US1 billion.

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