As the number of accidents caused by potentially lethal Takata-made air bag inflators increase, General Motors (GM) has had to recall several cars in the past few months. Anticipating such situations to go out of hand, the company has devised contingency plans.
More than 21 million vehicles have been recalled globally by numerous automakers since 2008 because of the defective inflators supplied by Takata Corp. These inflators, have in the past, ruptured and shot metal shards into the vehicle and have been linked to at least five deaths.
GM's plans include directing Takata to share with rivals TRW and Autoliv the No. 1 U.S. automaker's air bag specifications and data so any replacement parts made by others would work in GM vehicles. "Basically, we bought an insurance policy so that the capacity is there if we need it," Cain said. "We don't want to be caught short-handed. "There is only so much inflator capacity in the industry and we need to be prepared, so what we've done is prudent," he added.
A Time When Nothing Seems To Work Out For The Company:
As regulatory authorities, consumer advocates, and two Congressional committees in the USA along with regulators in Japan take an increasingly aggressive stance in demanding the immediate recall of potentially deadly driver and passenger side airbags manufactured by Japanese company Takata an investigation has found apathetic regulators and an industry more intent on protecting its marques than in ensuring that the owners of their products are informed and safe.
A previously unreported death of a woman and her unborn child in Sarawak, Malaysia on July 27 this year involving the driver side airbag in a 2003 Honda City was revealed.
A week later a US Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing was told of a fifth previously undisclosed fatality in the USA involving a passenger side airbag installed in a 2004 Subaru Impreza. To date at least eight deaths and more than 160 injuries have been blamed on the potentially deadly Takata airbags
Following the announcement of the Malaysia fatality Japanese auto giant Honda added an additional 170,000 vehicles (none of which had been sold in the USA) to its previous nine recalls since 2008 involving more than six million vehicles, while rival manufacturer Toyota increased its previously announced recall of 2.27 million vehicles by an additional 57,000 vehicles globally.
The Preventive Measures:
General Motors Co. has developed contingency plans in case recalls of widens, forcing the U.S. automaker to repair millions of vehicles, the company said on Friday.